Question of Survival
by ricar
Summary: New writer looking for feedback. Story follows original characters based on the game Last of Us. Set in the same time frame but unrelated to the game characters. They could meet Joel and Ellie in the future of this story, we'll see how it goes. Language, Violence, Sex
1. In the Basement

In the basement

Well it was a gray and drizzly, pissy kind of day. Sometimes the weather just knows how you feel and seems to want to twist the knife, doesn't it?

Reg pulled a coin from his weathered canvas pants. They were thick and heavy and worn enough to feel almost soft and were his favorite pants for this work. They were black but faded a pale bachelor gray color that made them look almost a thousand years old. "_How 'bout we fight for it this time?" _Dave just looked at him. He was no slouch, but Reg was a bit taller and a bit heavier. Dave always wondered how he would do if they ever did get into it, but at the same time never wanted it to happen. They had been together for a long time, ever since they met in school. Chasing girls was what made them a pair in the first place; it was easier if someone put in a good word for you. Dave always did do better with the girls, he had that bit of cockiness they seem to like. Reg pushed a wet hand into his pocket to retrieve his unlucky coin and tossed it into the air.

_He called tails; he always calls tails_ Dave thought, as the coin rolled over and over. When the coin landed it came up heads again. Dave almost felt bad, almost _"Looser goes in first"_ he said as if he had to say it, there was no picking or debating, fair as it could get. Reg laughed "_I win! I am awesome at coin tossing" _and put the coin back in his pocket. Reg never argued about losing coin tosses, really how could he, sometimes he made Dave toss and call, but he kind of liked going in first. Waiting outside always made him feel just a bit like a pussy, he never wanted to ask someone to do something he wouldn't do himself. He wiped his slightly bent nose; it was dripping from the cold rain. He had broken it as a kid but could not remember how.

"_Don't miss me too much while I'm gone"_ he said to Dave and started down the stairs._ "Or would you prefer to just wait out here? I can go get it." _

Truth be told Dave was no happier watching a friend walk alone into a bad situation than he was walking in himself, but a little pre-job banter took a bit of the edge off. He responded _"just do your job; if you die I'm taking your gun, guns, and your knives. And if you think you are going to die, could you take the clicker with you? Oh, and if there's more than one let me know?"_

"Sure honey, I love you." Reg laughed

Dave kicked him in the pants as he walked by and started down the steps. _"If there's food in there I'm taking it before I call you down"_ Reg said almost seriously, fun time was over. He got down the steps to the open doorway. It was early in the day but Reg turned on his chest mounted flash light anyway, _Why not? _He thought_, they don't care about light, and better to make the noise out here._ The light wasn't so much chest mounted as it was taped to a loop in his coat. It was just a small LED thing, made in China and had worked flawlessly so far. He wondered if China had infected as well, and why so many things seemed to be made there. _I wonder if China has infected, hey, maybe they have trained infected that make all this stuff._

His worn jacket was dripping rain down to his cold hands and his pants clung to his skin bringing him back to the seriousness of the situation. _I'd bet they make pants in China that don't stick to you in the rain_. He made some of his own clothes; they were usually just to cover the stuff he wanted to hide. Dave did the same thing, if you had any sort of gear; you were in danger of people more than in danger of infected. _This is not so good_ he thought of his cold hands. He hated cold hands, they made him feel slow, and when you need to pull the trigger, you bloody well want to feel it. _I hope it's warmer in there, _he thought_, I need to shake this chill._

Dave was left at the top; the worst part of winning the coin toss was being left waiting. He could see something of the hallway at the bottom, a carpeted floor by the pattern, but he couldn't see anything useful other than watching Reg disappear. _"Your good brother"_ Dave whispered _"take your time and we go home tonight, I don't want your guns, or your knives"_ It looked like he had gone in and to the left. Dave pushed back his wet brown hair to put his mask half way on. It was too uncomfortable to wear for an extended period but he needed to hear the radio that was built in, hopefully Reg would not be more than a minute or two. _Unless he does find some food in there, then I could be out here all day_. The first one down always had more to risk and he hoped this would go with no surprises. They figured it was better for one to go first because one guy makes less noise and you can't run into someone who isn't there when you start running for your life.

Neither of them were looking to be greedy, they did not need to find some hole full of infected, no big score, they were happy picking off ones and twos. They had made an alright go of it so far with just the two of them, no need for a big operation with too many people, too many trust issues and too many egos. Everyone wants to be a leader; number one or just plain had something to prove. It was best with nothing to prove, two guys with a single goal, split fifty fifty. That was even more of a suggestion, if one of them needed something, that's what they worked for. Dave wondered _how you could be a team if you couldn't look out for each other; no attitudes just get it done_.

The rain was starting to get through Dave's clothes; it was not cold out, but the bloody rain. It was spring and had been raining more often than not, he supposed no more than any other year but the anticipation of better weather made the rain harder to endure. His toes were cold, _I needed better socks, OK, well if I had socks then I'd need better socks, now I just need socks. Why can't I find some non-stank second hand clicker foot socks? What is that guy doing?_ His thoughts returning his attention to Reg and realizing he had lost track of time. His canvas jacket did not stop the rain and the leather underneath it was weighing on him, his jeans were past uncomfortable.

Counting nine stairs got Reg to the bottom as he planted a boot on the carpeted hallway. _This place was probably pretty swank back in its day. Now it's a stained, stank hole clickers piss in. _The clicking had stopped but they were pretty sure the thing was still in there._ Hmmm, too many doors, three left three right and who knows what's behind any of them._

The first on the left was wide open, but the door on the right was closed. Good enough, we go left. Ugh, Infected should learn to use the can he thought, just because you lose your brain to some shit, does that mean you can't crap in a toilet? Don't they have toilets in China? They smell bad enough as it is. The infection did cause a foul smell that started with the early stages of the infection and got progressively worse.

Reg moved to the open door and scanned the room. No infected, some chairs, trashed filing cabinet and an over turned desk. He flexed his wet hand on the cold pistol trying to move some blood; he shook it to shed the rain water still dripping from his coat. The noise of his clothing and the splatter of water was enough to get the clicker going again but it was obviously in a different room, and no footsteps meant it was not fully alert.

He made his way to the corner and sank to the floor. Pressing the PTT button sewn into the knee of his pants beside the watch, he called Dave._"Come down, first left door. Room is empty head kitty corner to first door"_ It was a pain to wear the masks, especially with the rain but the other option is to pull it out when you see spores. You can't really ask infected for a time out in a bad situation, so they both wore them when going indoors after infected. Better to be uncomfortable than dead they both figured. They had acquired a luxury pair of masks with working radios, which was a real help but cost them, maybe too much Reg wondered.

The ability to talk was really helpful but you still needed to keep it to a bare minimum. Even with the mic in the mask, some of your voice could still be heard. It was better than yelling and in an emergency could easily save your life. They did have to part with a case of ammo, which was fine as all that ammo they had no guns for, but the other guns and ammo was a loss. Well, any gun with ammo is precious now.

Dave made his way down the wet stairs, his boots nearly silent on the steps and he was down into the hall on to the soft carpet, _that's helpful except for the squishing sound_, the door was bent and held open by a cinder block. Clickers are not known for their ability to be quiet; it was their hearing you needed to be concerned with, and their strength. Weird, almost not human strength that few had felt first hand and lived to describe it. He saw Reg kneeling in the corner and made his way to the far corner of the room. There were two doors from this room to the main hallway and Reg was opposite the first one, Dave moved some folding chairs to take his spot in the far corner of the room opposite the other door and squatted down. Reg reached up into his pack and with a cold hand grabbed the neck of a bottle, pulled it out and looked at Dave. He gave a nod and Reg tossed the bottle at the door in front of him. The thing hit the wall with a thud and the floor with a tink but it didn't break. _Huh, I'll have to remember to pick that thing up; bottles are not so easy to come by any more._

The clicker came quickly; it must have been in a room across the hall. _It is always better to have them come to you _Dave thought, _well, at least when you are waiting for them._ He raised the pistol in his hand and aimed for the creatures head. POP. One shot, it was not a difficult shot but too loud. He did not want to make more noise than necessary. He did have a silencer but it was not that good. Reg always gave him a hard time calling it a quieterer not a silencer. It was still better than nothing. Dave looked at the pistol for a second, it was a decent gun. Not a misfire since he owned the easy to care for semi, Big enough to take down the oldest of clickers at least, not many pistols would penetrate a bloater with a single shot. Still, this was a good close quarter's gun and small enough to hide in some baggy pants. He looked at the watch sewn into his knee and timed three minutes. It was a brutal wait, but it had saved them before. After a loud noise, if you are in an empty room, you sit three, and then you move. The gun shot and the falling clicker made too much noise for either of them, _ ya gotta do what ya gotta do_.

There was another clicker in there. It was going bananas; obviously it heard the commotion and was interested. The first clicker had only taken seconds to arrive this one had not appeared for the bottle, and it still had not. It must be locked in a room, kill three minutes, then move on.

At the three minute mark Dave looked over at Reg. The exchanged glance was enough and both rose to move to the next room. Down one more room on the left, then the two on the right. When entering a hallway, rooms on the left became the left, on the right stayed on the right no matter which direction you were facing. It made things simple, your left and right became irrelevant to the buildings left and right. They moved to the rear door of the first room and Dave went into the hall first and picked up the bottle. On exit Dave turned to the back of the building and Reg came out right behind him to the front.

The hall was empty as expected, but you need to be careful every time. The clicker was across the hall clicking up a storm in a room with a closed door. If it were able to, it would have been out by now so they were safe to continue with the plan, Dave looked at Reg, took the handle and slowly turned, Reg kept eyes on the doors across the hall containing the other clicker. When he had the door open far enough Dave tossed the bottle to the far corner of the room and waited, nothing happened, no infected.

Quietly but quickly Dave opened the door the rest of the way and moved to the center of the front wall. Scanning the room he found nothing useful and no infected. Entering a room with a closed door was never a good idea, the door always made too much noise and even a sleeping clicker would usually be aroused by an opening door. With the gunshot and the falling clicker, no infected would have slept through that. They were not actually sure that clickers slept, they seemed to go into some kind of trance, like meditating more than sleeping, whatever it was, they were mildly less of a pain. He walked the room, looked at Reg and pointed out, off to the next room. "_let's see what's keeping our friend from joining the party." _Dave said feeling more confident this was the last one and they were almost done. The rooms on the other side of the hall had full length windows to the hall and shades that were pretty destroyed. Most of the space would be visible with a flash light.

Reg had stepped in the room and did not see anything alarming. He looked over to Dave who just pointed out, _great; _he turned his attention back to the hall and other doors. The next room was the back right and had a window with coverings damaged enough to allow a good view inside. Reg stepped across and looked in, the window was pretty much the length of the room so he moved slowly along scanning the room. The corners were pretty dark, but he was sure there was only the one clicker behind a desk. It looked like it was caught on something hanging, _maybe an electrical wire?_ He looked at Dave who was now out in the hallway by the rear door to the room.

Reg held up a finger for him indicating there was one known clicker in the room. _Just the one probably, but there could always be more_. Dave glanced quickly into the room through the dusty window but did not see it. Reg pointed down at an angle, partially hidden by a desk, Dave saw it's legs behind a desk, it must have been caught up by the way it was moving.

Dave opened the door slowly looking over the room, Reg opened the door nearest the exit at the same time, not the best plan, probably stupid but the smell was getting to them and they were getting sloppy. Reg looked at the clicker; it was caught in a noose hanging from the ceiling, _a trap designed for infected_. It was not to catch people, anyone who could see would avoid it and even if they were completely blind they could easily pull the noose off. Clickers may have been able to see, but they didn't act like it. They did not seem to react to anything they saw, and were not agile. The early more mobile stage passed quickly, but after passing through the runner stage, new clickers still kept much of their mobility and slowly became more clumsy, but more protected and powerful.

When the insanity took over in the first stage it probably damaged the brain but no one really understood why infected people wanted flesh, or if there was anything left of the original person after the insanity. It didn't need a human target, anything that moved, they would try to eat. It was a terrible thing to think about, but he was glad he had never seen a child turn. They never seemed to survive the early stages.

The clicker was suspended with its head about waist level, too high for its hands to reach the floor. Thick skin armor prevented its throat from closing, and it seemed unable to get up on its feet. Dave pulled a baseball bat from the side of his pack and Reg opened the door. Reg went straight in with his revolver cradled in both hands. He scanned the room, again a couple of desks up turned, chairs, one clicker. He gave a nod to Dave who strode over quickly and quietly, WAP, the rope holding the clicker and the bat were enough to break the spine. It also ended the clicking, no more clickers and a runner in the last room would have made a fuss for sure by now. The last room would be empty, but they would have to treat it as unknown, the sloppiness of the last room would get them in trouble if it continued.

This trap was not good they both knew, it was not their trap so someone else was watching this building. It was too late to worry about who set the trap, just get that final room done and get out. Looking through the tattered dirty beige shades it appeared empty. Reg opened the door to the rear of the room and strafed the back wall settling in the corner; Dave followed quickly but stayed at the door. They exchanged nods and that was it. Reg got up and went to do a quick circle check of the room. You never know when you might miss something, so Reg always did a circle. This time he won finding a first aid kit in a desk drawer. It was not complete, but pretty close. _Heh, nice clean bandages, tape, a good find._

The two went to check the dead clickers for anything worthwhile. They had found more than a few guns and knives strapped to legs and joked that it was a good thing these infected seemed to forget how to use them. A nice pair of boots would be good, or some other gear to replenish what the masks cost them. Some of these infected were military before they got sick.

Dave got to the one he shot first; definitely not military this guy has nothing. No protection, nothing that could be considered a weapon, no wonder he didn't make it. It had a small pocket knife that was in bad shape; maybe he used this thing to open a can of food, stupid. He looked up at Reg when he approached, "Nothing. Not even good boots" Reg laughed and walked to the other clicker "you need socks not boots" he said into his mask..

Reg left Dave looking at the dead infected lying on the carpeted floor, its blood still spreading and leaving an oddly shaped wet stain. Dave thought about the insanity, swelling of the brain maybe. _It probably sucked pretty bad, maybe this was the first time the person that it used to be had some peace since becoming infected_. He could not help thinking about it's life, _did he have a girlfriend? Kids? Shit this sucked_. It was bad from every angle;_ this is not how life should be_.

He did not want to do this. He would never say it out loud, but he didn't want to, on the other hand, he did feel as though he may be doing these people a favor. _Maybe there is something else, maybe there is some life after this and they will meet loved ones who are already dead. Maybe these people are stuck in some living torment with this infection? They could be stuck in some kind of private prison. This has to be the proper thing to do._ As much as he hated it, he hated hunting these ex people but he hated letting them live more.

Letting these people live to go on hunting others they probably don't want hurt and most likely never even knew. Driven by this madness, this infection it must be hell. Are they looking out the windows of the eyes but with no control of their own body? He stood up, sweat and rain dripping from his mask, _If it were me, I'd want someone to end it for me_ he needed air and turned to walk outside. _I just need to breathe for a second. May as well call now to get these two picked up and they are someone else's problem_. He walked out to the hall towards the stairs.

Reg was still going over the second clicker when he saw Dave head into the hall. The clicker had a decent knife on his belt and a lighter in his pocket. _Where did he go? _Reg looked around _He__ should have talked to me first. Whatever, he is probably just looking to get out of this smell, probably puked in his mask_. The masks stopped the spores, but they would not stop all the smell. Two clickers would be worth a bit from the military, maybe some ammo, water. They could use both without question.

He shifted the mask to ease the itching seal around his face. There were no old dead in here, no spores. As he stood he heard a pop a too familiar pop, then a shuffle, _no, NO!_ A quick look into the hall to see Dave's body at the bottom of the stairs, most of his head was missing.

Without thinking he hopped up on a chair by the wall and popped a ceiling tile. He heaved himself up into the open ceiling; wet heavy clothes making him work. Reg pulled his knife and stabbed a hole in the tiles on either side of the wall just large enough to see through and waited in the low space of the ceiling. _Bastards,_ he pulled out his bow balancing on the wooden top of the wall. He loved the bow was his, a child's compound bow, small light, but easily powerful enough for a clicker, or a prick.

He wanted to scream, go charging out all "guns a blairin" Wild West style. Not now, these guys will pay, Wild West may be romantic, but you die in the end. Not here, _you fucks will die, every one of you_. This was not the time to lose it, _keep it together; _trembling from anger he was hot under his coat. His cold hands long forgotten all he could think about was trying to breathe, _"control" _he whispered "_smooth (he took a slow breath) control" _another slow breath_._

Whoever it was they were not very good. _No patience_ he could tell already, he was pissed that these guys took out Dave. The one in first must have gotten the short straw, or lost a coin toss. Maybe he was just cocky and thought he was that good. No intelligent person would want to be the first to come down the stairs. _Whoever you ended up being first in I don't care, your Short Straw now, and I'm going to end you._ _"HELLO"_ Short straw almost yelled. A young guy by the sound of his voice_ "I'm coming to get youuuuu" _Reg almost laughed_, it's settling to hear a voice isn't it Short Straw?_ _Even if it is your own, but don't worry, I'll quell those nerves soon enough._

He was pissed beyond words, _this guy, HOW? _His hands were shaking as he reached over his head to pull an arrow while a rafter at his shoulder steadied his balance. The sad thing is he would never see it coming, he wanted to look him in the eyes and tell him why he was about to die. Short Straw had gone the same route as they did; first room on the left then he called to a friend. Two more came down, one stayed in the hall, one went into the left room. He could hear them talking, they didn't know how many they were looking for. _Stupid_, he thought, how do you not know how many? _Dave what were you THINKING _he screamed in his head. _YOU WERE BETTER THAN THAT._

Too quickly they went in to the second room then across the hall._ You guys are in way too much of a hurry, you're not gonna make me work for this at all are ya._ Apparently Short Straw was in a bit of trouble, he was telling somebody he knew the guy was not alone, he was sure there were two, but maybe three. For sure the guy was not alone. _"Two or three for sure, and we already got the one." What an idiot _Reg said in his mask.

The guy who must have been in charge must have shoved him against the wall as there was a thump and the wall Reg was standing on shook. _Its ok, Boss man, take it easy_,_ it will all be over soon enough_. _Actually, Dave may have something to say about it if you see him, may not be over quite so fast now that I think of it._

"FIND HIM", boss man said, "no one gets out of this stench until we know." Our boy Geoff said there may be two in here, we stay until we have two bodies". Reg decided to call the other guy Odd man because he couldn't think of a name, and that left him the odd man out. Odd man opened the door to the fourth room and threw something it. Some sort of flash bomb as a bright flash came through the tiles, he squeezed his eyes tight and heard Boss man yelling "get on the floor" to the empty room. "SHIT where are they" odd man said when he realized the last room was empty.

Then the opportunity as short straw wandered under the hole in the ceiling tile. The other two were obviously in the fourth room this was too good to miss. Short Straw was in the perfect spot, right under his knife hole Reg could see almost down the guy's shirt. He pulled the arrow back, he wanted to bury it and he did, right inside the clavicle in behind the ribs. Not a whisper as short straw fell.

It was at least a minute and a half before someone noticed he was missing and called for him. Odd man yelled _"Geoff's down"_ and ran to him. Reg already had another arrow but did not want to give himself away. He could not see, nor did he have any idea where boss man was. Should he take the shot? Odd man rolled Geoff over, blood was running out of his mouth but where the arrow had entered was barely a red dot. Boss man finally entered the room but would not go near Geoff; he was at least that smart.

Short straw was a young guy, too nice pants Reg thought, you should have known better. Nice leather jacket by the looks, but hard to tell. Not a protective type coat, and too pretty. Odd man finally realized he was in danger and backed off Geoff. He was still making a gurgling sound now and again, Odd man asked what happened. "_I didn't hear a gunshot, silencer maybe? There's no wound I saw"_, he kind of half asked half told. _"Shut up for a minute, I gotta think for a minute" _Boss man said.

_Finally,_ Reg thought, _about time you two started using your brains_. Then another chance, Reg could not believe these two, Odd man and Boss man had gotten on either side of the wall under his knife holes. Odd man could not help but go look at Short Straw and Boss man stepped out of the room into the hall. Reg put the arrow in the pack and the bow in his teeth then pulled his pistol and the Shorty. He aimed the Shorty in Odd man's direction and the revolver at Boss, he pulled two triggers and two men fell.

He made sure boss man went, he was in sights when the triggers were pulled, Shorty was pretty much sure to hit something and it was better boss dead for sure, odd man was less of a threat, especially injured. There was no need to worry, boss man's head was an open can of worms, odd man took most of Shorty's spray in the back. He had a hole in him the size of a foot ball. Reg sat on a ventilation duct and called for the pickup of two clickers using a military channel on the walkie. Good for 15 miles, made in China.

The military guys did not arrive until the next morning. The sun was shining and it looked like it should be a nice day. Reg had not slept much and was up at first light. He had taken the dead crew to the back right room and taken anything they had worth taking. Short straw looked to have something in his right pocket but when Reg went to check it was the end of his arrow. It had gone in the left side of his neck and gone through. Reg pulled the arrow through "_I'll hang on to that thanks" _he said to Short straw. Aside from his arrow, they had two radios, one bush rifle two semi pistols and four decent knives between them. In their packs he found some dried meat, which seemed to be a staple for most people, a couple of road flairs and the rest he left. Reg put the pistols and knives in Short straw's pack and took it, the rifle got strapped to his pack.

. Reg pulled the clickers to the bottom of the stairs, _Bugger those military guys, they can pull these two out themselves._ He had pulled Dave's lifeless body outside and stripped a tree of most of its branches, whatever he could get off without a saw. Reg took Dave's gear but left him fully dressed, he was not going to demean his friend. Dave could take the rest with him, where ever he was going. He sat on a rock and wept while his friend was consumed in the fire. The ass holes in the back can rot where they are. There were a few people milling about but none bothered about the action, they all had seen it before and it was enough to deal with your own troubles, no need to get into someone else's.

The military guys arrived much earlier than he thought they would and quickly loaded the clickers onto a little trailer pulled by a pickup truck. There were four of them, two watched and two worked. Only the military had reliable vehicles now, they also had the biggest guns. The soldiers were loaded and ready to move out before the sun had even put warmth into the air. Reg just sat on a curb and let them work.

They told Reg that they had no ammo or water on hand because they were out on a run to get other clickers yesterday and had some "other issues" The soldiers said they were stranded out over night and it was true that there were other dead clickers in the trailer. Reg opted to go with them to the water plant rather than take a "military note" that they may or may not honor. He was not happy about going because he didn't trust them and it was a good distance away. You never knew, they could decide not to drive him back and he'd be stuck. _"Bloody hell, they could just kill me and who would complain"_. Still the promise of ammo and water was too much for anyone to pass up, he climbed in the bed and snoozed as they drove off to the treatment plant. _No need to worry about what you can't control, may as well enjoy the ride"_


	2. At the Plant

At the plant

When they got to the plant, instead of making him wait at the round guard tower they drove through the heavy front gate and parked in a lot in front of a small out building with a sand colored roof and a sand colored brick exterior, everything seemed to be the color of sand or grass or dirt. It all seemed like some left over camouflage from when there were airplanes in the sky. Not even the military would consider wasting fuel on flying, though they may very well have planes.

The soldiers told Reg to come inside the small building and have a seat. He followed them through the doors and found a desk some older guy was sitting at. The desk was part of a room with glass from the desk top to the ceiling and only a smallish window where things could be passed through. He seemed to know the guys walking in and one by one they went to see him and handed him their guns. He could now see there was a hallway connecting this building to the main building

Reg was pointed to a small bench along a green wall. The whole floor was smooth as glass, all dirty white color tiles. The walls were all cinder block painted a light kind of green. The guy that was driving the pickup finally came to him with a heavy wax coated cardboard box. _"Would you mind putting your guns in the box? You don't have to, but if you want to go inside you do_. _You have my word you will get them back."_ That was a statement he had not heard for a long time. _Your word _he thought. _What is your word worth? Some seem to think it's nothing some seem to think it's everything. "Why not."_ he said. _They can just take my stuff anyhow, like I have anything to say at this point_. _"I guess I'll see what that word is worth"_ he said as he unholstered his guns and put them in the box. _"What about this?"_ he said about his bow. _"I don't want to lose it"_. The soldier replied _"you can keep the bow but I'll need the arrows, I'm sure you understand. You've trusted me so far, and I let you in my building."_

He followed the guys down the hallway to a room full of benches and tables. He realized he was in some sort of mess hall, maybe the cafeteria from before the infection. One of the soldiers he was with pointed him to a line. He was almost surprised when the lady behind the counter gave him a plate of food, real bacon and eggs. It was late for breakfast or early for lunch, but it didn't matter quality food was never something to turn down and he was starving. This was guaranteed to be better than the dried meat he had eaten for dinner, not to mention he didn't know how long it had been in his pack.

He almost felt like this was his last meal, was he going to be arrested or something? He was looking around the room, the walls in here were still green, just a darker shade, the floor was still the same dirty white tiles._ I wonder if these tiles are made in China._ Reg got his food and a glass of water then went to an empty table. The guy who was giving the orders when they were out to pick up the clickers came over with his tray and sat down him.

The guy asked Reg how he was doing which was odd because soldiers don't ever talk to civs except to tell them what to do or where to go. He introduced himself as Sergeant Cope, and asked, or told, Reg to call him _"just Cope, you're a civilian and there's no need for military formality"._ He wore the general cammo with a side arm, black boots, vest and goofy hat that looked like it should slide off his head. He seemed like a decent guy though, and said he thought he could gather what had happened. He figured there were other dead in that basement when he saw the pyre. _"I figure you had a partner in there, and some other group came along and tried to step in, I'm guessing they took out your partner and you gave it to them right proper when they came in. I figure not many would send a partner off like that, most dead are left to rot."_

Reg nodded, _"you wanna arrest me?"_ _"No"_ said Cope, "_but do you mind telling me more or less what happened?"_

Reg went through what happened in the basement and answered all their questions. He was not in the mood for arguing and he decided to spill it out, who cared anyhow. _Either they arrest me or they don't, I can't change what is in that basement. _He was tired, tired of his not made in China wet clothing sticking to him and tired of people trying to exercise their will on him. He went through how he and Dave were told by a woman they were acquainted with had told them she heard clicking from the opening. They went down and one thing then another and several people died. He gave the bare minimum, not that he wanted to hide, there was no point, but he didn't want to go through it again. It was just too raw.

Cope asked if he wanted to get cleaned up and have a shower. _"Sure"_ he said, but didn't know exactly what that meant as he hadn't actually had a shower before. Cope could tell by his look that something was up, so he simply said _"follow me"_ and led him down another green, long hallway with doors to rooms and windows, some with open blinds some shut. _"Are all the walls in this place green?"_ Reg asked, Cope just laughed. Finally the end of the long pale green painted hall was two open doorways, one had a little picture of a stick man, the other looked like a stick figure in a dress, they went in the one he assumed meant men and it opened into a locker room. _"huh"_ Reg said out loud "_walls that aren't green"_ Cope laughed again, the walls were not green, but all the lockers were, Cope had never even noticed the beige walls.

Cope showed him to another room full of little stalls and pipes, the whole floor was covered in tiny little white tiles that went half way up the wall and covered the walls separating the stalls. Cope went to one of the stalls and turned on the water for him. There was a handle with red to one side and blue to the other, pretty straight forwards he thought._ "Don't drink this water" _Cope said as he walked out of the showers towards the locker room.

Reg got undressed and stood under the running water for what felt like half an hour, warm water running over his shoulders, the heat on the back of his neck. He cried again for his friend, or maybe it was because he turned the handle too far to the red, but determined that was enough of that. Dave would be calling him a pussy, they both know it would happen and it was just a matter of time, it was quick, and he never got infected. That was what he wanted and it was what he got. Reg decided he would remember him, and that he was sure they would see each other again on the other side, it had to be.

Reg couldn't help but remember his mom. Something about the situation, maybe just being in a building with lots of people, like the one she died in. He could barely remember her, but he always could remember her fingers on his head. He could not remember what she looked like, or even the sound of her voice, but he could close his eyes and feel her fingers, softly sliding through his hair, talking and singing softly to him. He couldn't even remember what she sang though he knew she did; the memories of her fingers were enough right now. She was what kept him human, she drilled that into his head. _You are a person and they are persons as much as you, that difference between us and the animals. "Yeah", _he said out loud_ "but you didn't tell me how many people were animals."_

If you can't be human, you may as well be infected he thought. Those ass holes were worse than infected; they knew better, at least infected are insane. He went to get dressed and found his clothes were gone but in their place he found some jeans and a long sleeved gray shirt, his bow was sitting on top. Maybe they smelled too bad he thought but they were wet from the rain still and he was not looking forward to putting them back on. He had been in those wet clothes for more than a day and a half. He put on the borrowed clothes and went back out to the mess hall.

There was no one there he wanted to talk to so he just picked a seat away from the others and sat down. He was not alone more than a minute before a female soldier walked up to him. He didn't know they had female soldiers but she was dressed like one. The girl asked if she could sit with him. "_Hi"_ Kaylee said, _"are you a friend of Cope?"_. They exchanged some idle banter, asked him if he was from another plant or base. She was surprised to hear he was not. _"They never let outsiders in here." _she said, "_did Cope tell you why he let you in?" _Reg told her he did not, just that he had killed some clickers and Cope asked him to come back because they were out over night. Kaylee asked about the infected, how people deal with the danger, the spores. "_What about kids?"_ "_Well not many people are having kids; you want to know about the outside?"_ Reg asked. _"Don't you know, with the trucks, all the big guns, you probably see much more than I do."_ _"No"_, Kaylee replied. She did not remember ever being outside of the fence. Her dad was one of the up and ups in the plant and he had a pretty tight leash on her.

Reg figured she was pretty, with light almost reddish kind of blonde hair, she was pretty small but looked like she was fit._ Maybe she does some sort of training_. He didn't see a lot of women, mostly they seemed to keep out of sight unless they were in a place they felt pretty comfortable. He found women outside were usually pretty jumpy and as likely to shoot you as say hello, usually it was best to avoid them. He understood why they were like that, there were groups of men that would take over other groups, kill the men and take the women like slaves. It could be really bad in some places. There were groups of women though you didn't even want to come in contact with, they could be the worst.

Kaylee was friendly and she seemed kind, but she also was very sheltered. How could she not know about the outside? Reg knew she shouldn't, she didn't ever get out, but the idea was so foreign he could not imagine how it was possible. It was like she grew up in a dream world. Kaylee knew it though, and that is why she wanted to talk to him. All the others knew not to piss off the union, they wouldn't tell her anything, not that she would trust them anyhow. She had no illusions about life outside the fence; she knew what most of the soldier boys were like and could only imagine what they would be like outside if they had no leadership.

There were a few people who looked as young as Kaylee, and some younger. They just had a different look or something, innocence he thought, _they don't know, they have not seen death, not the kind of death you see outside_. Kaylee was no kid, she may have been a bit younger than him but her life experience was not like his. He was truly robbed of a child hood. Not that hers would have been grand, just very different.

Kaylee told him that her dad was a mechanic at the plant and that made him valuable. Apparently there were not many that knew how to keep this place running so the soldiers kept him safe; he not gone outside of the plant for years either except to visit other plants if the need came up. Those in there who had in depth knowledge of the water plant and were protected for it, they did not run things, but were like upper management. Her mother was here as well; she worked in the kitchen and maintained the gardens as well. Reg decided to tell her of the clickers and hunting them, she would have known that much anyhow, about the packs, groups of men that would do anything for anything. They would hunt you as an animal for your clothes and gear, even for your body. Cannibalism was not unheard of, but again, she probably knew all this. He did not want to talk about Dave; all he wanted was to think about was her slender fingers. He wanted to touch her hands, feel them, they looked like soft hands.

Kaylee could sense something was up, she may not have been outside but she had been around men. They always wanted her, she could tell. Sometimes she would tease them, the way she would walk, or bite a finger, she had her "bag of tricks" she would tell her friends. This guy was different, he was not staring at her boobs and he did not have that "look" that guys have when they look at her, like they want to eat her.

This guy seemed to be interested in something else, he didn't make her feel dirty when he looked at her, he made her feel wanted in a different way, she had only felt a shadow of that once before. She sat there staring at him; he was looking down at the table with sad eyes and short hair. On the outside she was told it was best to keep your hair short because it was cleaner. The soldier boys always had their heads nearly bald or close to it. She wondered who cut his hair; they had done a terrible job, but she found herself attracted to him none the less.

He was a good looking guy; he didn't look like a butt ring like the soldier boys. He was pretty messy, his beard needed to go, but she did like him in the borrowed jeans and shirt. He looked like a guy from the posters and magazines the soldiers would bring in from time to time to try to impress them. She could clean him up though. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to see what he looked like happy; she wanted to wash all that sadness away and see him smile. I wonder if he would smile if I kissed him.

Kaylee was not the only girl in the plant and a few years ago her small "girl's band" as they called themselves, decided to go see the world. It wasn't the world, but it was their world, and a group of teenagers should have the right to explore their surroundings. They were not supposed to, there were no infected inside, but there were "dangers" _Right, you get scared when you can't see us_ she thought. They were annoyed with the rules; they were not children any more, fully capable of looking out for themselves and each other. Really, all they found were long hallways with various sizes of rooms, then more hallways and more rooms, a few interesting trinkets, but most often there was nothing worth bothering about.

The girls found a locker room on one outing that had had not been used since "before"; some of the lockers still had pad locks on them. Now what would be worth locking up they all thought? This was the most interesting thing they had found; some of the open lockers had personal stuff in them, a little clothing, pictures taped to the inside of the doors were mostly families, note pads and water bottles. There were two rooms, a men's side and a women's side. They found some clothing on the women's side, nothing very nice, some they took, but nothing worth arguing over. On the men's side they found mostly the same, clothes, water bottles, pictures. Some of the lockers had pictures of topless girls or girls in their underwear on the doors. Kaylee's dad being a mechanic, had lots of tools and she knew a bolt cutter when she found it. They went back to the lockers to cut the locks off and see what was in there that was worth locking up. They did not find much interesting except in two of the lockers they found small stashes of magazines. At first they were excited, they wanted to see what people were like before the infection but these were not that kind of magazine. The magazines had lots of pictures of naked people, some in sexual acts doing various things with each other in what looked like some uncomfortable positions.

They had never seen anything like this before. They knew nothing of sex, but they knew how to read. A few of the girls had some limited knowledge of the mechanics of sex, and they had all talked about sex, but this stuff was not what any of them expected. The thing that really got to them was that girls were doing things to other girls. Kissing, licking, putting fingers in place, this was so foreign to them but at the same time felt safer than the alternative. They all talked badly about the soldier boys, some of them had kissed a boy or two. Kaylee had no interest in any of the boys there. Some of the boys were attractive to her, but they all seemed like such jerks. The magazines were how she learned of sex, they would get together at night and read the stories, when they got bolder they practiced kissing. They learned a game from one of the books called spin the bottle where you had to spin the bottle and kiss who it pointed to.

_Was this normal? Is this how girls, people acted then?_ _Do they still?_ The magazines brought up more questions than they answered. There were friends within the group, "best friends" and what not, and now some of those friends started spending more time apart from the group. Kaylee and Sam had been friends almost as long as she could remember. They met in class when a boy took a book from her. Sam was new and had no friends yet but she went and bit the boy and made him cry. When the teacher came running Sam grabbed the book and ran to give it to Kaylee. They must have been four or so, it was one of her earliest memories. She was not so sure it was even a real memory, or if the just remembered the story. Now Sam seemed to know what Kaylee was thinking, they shared jokes that no one else thought were funny, and told each other everything. One day they had gone off and found themselves in an office on an upper floor. They had made this place their own private spot, not on the top floor because pretty much all the kids went to the top floor, it was prime. If you wanted to find a spot of your own, you had to be smart enough to go to another floor.

"The office" they decided to call it housed a very nice desk compared to most of the other offices they found; it was a big heavy wooden desk with seven drawers and even a big comfy chair that seemed to match it. The desk sat on a carpeted floor that was so nice they would usually take their shoes off at the door and go bare foot. They also had a chair that sat in front of the desk but was not nearly as comfy, steel framed with a straight back and little padding. There was also a small couch with course brown material covering it. The couch was too small to lie on with your legs out but if you let them dangle is was alright or you could curl up and have your head on a padded arm rest.

Kaylee was hanging out one afternoon in the office with Sam when Sam told her of an experience with one of the "boy soldiers". One of the soldiers that she almost trusted said he had made up stories about her and she was pissed. To get him back she tried some of her own "tricks" on him. She wasn't sure why, but in a way she wanted to jerk him around the way she felt he had done to her. Sam, like Kaylee, could not take the boy soldiers seriously, but they were fun to tease.

"Well this butt ring pushed me back into in a corner and started kissing me. Not only did I not want to be there but he sucked at it" she said, "he was too rough; it was like kissing a dog, like he was trying to lick my face or something. He started grabbing my chest, finally I yelled at him, just get lost" She almost laughed, "his face changed, it was like he woke up or something and he ran" Now she did laugh, "What an idiot."

Kaylee tried to console her but Sam didn't want it, "that's not the point, I don't care about him" she said, "I don't want it from him, but I do want it, it felt good, to feel hands on my boobs, like the girls in the books. Remember how they always have those stupid looks on their faces? Well now I know why they make those looks, I want to make those stupid looks." "I want someone to grab my boobs. Someone I like though. But still, I want to get kissed, hard, not like when we played spin the bottle. I want someone to make me burn inside."

Kaylee was pissed, not at Sam of course, but the butt ring that grabbed her. She was seething she wanted to kill the person who did that, she almost missed Sam leaning in to kiss her. She had kissed Sam before, they played at it after they found the books and playing spin the bottle, but this time was different. Sam had a look, she wanted something, the way she looked at Kaylee made her feel uneasy, not in a bad way but she had never seen that look before, until now Reg had that kind of look. Different, nowhere near as strong if that is the word, but a longing sort of look, it was kind of nice; it made her feel like someone special. Sam had wanted her to fill some kind of emptiness in her; she thought Reg had that same look but just as raw as Sam had.

She remembered how Sam leaned in to kiss her. It was serious but gentle, this was not the play kissing that they had done before but real kissing. Sam put her hands on Kaylee's head pushed her fingers through her long strawberry blonde hair. About half way through she grabbed and pulled her hair down forcing Kay lee to look up. Sam went for her exposed neck and kissed it up to the underside of Kay lee's chin. Kaylee let out a moan _this does feel good_, to feel that someone wants you, like they need you more than air. She felt Sam let go of her hair and one hand move to her side lifting her cotton tee shirt and sliding her hand up under so terribly slowly. Finally she felt Sam's hand on her breast, caressing it softly her fingertips finding her sensitive nipples. Suddenly broke the kiss and backed off. Sam pushed Kaylee down on the coarse brown material of the couch, climbing on top of her she slid her hand under Kaylee's shirt again; squeezing her breast, _"it does feel good, oh it does feel good"_ Kaylee said along with the gasp that had escaped her mouth. Sam's short brown hair was tickling her nose and forehead as she kissed her.

Kaylee put her own hands under Sam's shirt feeling her slim waist, sliding her finger nails up her back, sliding them around her ribs and then pressing her palms into Sam's breasts. Sam's were a little bit bigger than hers, more than a handful and her nipples were hard as little rocks. Kaylee pinched one and Sam squealed and laughed at her own reaction but did not stop kissing. They must have been kissing for twenty minutes when Sam pulled back a little and looked her in the eyes. They were both breathing hard but neither seemed to have much to say. Maybe talking would bring them to their senses. They just wanted to be wanted, to be lusted after.

Sam got off the couch and keeled on the floor beside Kaylee, she moved her arm under Kaylee's head cradling her and started kissing her again, her other hand moved down her belly and pushed under her pants. Kaylee felt Sam's fingers reaching between her legs, rubbing gently on her pussy. Sam knew just where to go, that little button that gets so firm, right at the top of the folds. Kaylee had found that spot one night but she had never thought of her friends doing the same thing, which was silly, they all read the same books.

_Sam must do that as well. ooooo and she does a good job of it _Kaylee thought as Sam's fingers worked her over. A soft moan escaped her lips and she grasped Sam's arm like a life line. She kept holding Sam's arm with one hand the other moved to her breast squeezing almost too hard, but it felt so good. She pressed her breast into her chest and opened her legs farther for Sam. _"Harder"_ Sam rubbed harder and faster, Kaylee's breath was fast, she started moving her hips. _"Already? How did she get me here so fast?"_ Kaylee was so wet she felt like she had may have peed a little bit, maybe she did but right now she didn't care. _"Ahhhh, Ahhhhh, go, go, go, yeah!_" She felt a climax building that almost scared her. The burning inside was almost too much to bear, she squeezed her breast and Sam's arm _"Ghaaaa, there, there"_ Sam broke her kiss and shifted her attention to Kay lee's breast sucking her hard nipple into her mouth. "_Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Uhhhhaaaaa, shit AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHhhhhhh."_

Her body lay shaking on the couch with her legs still spread and her head in a cloud of endorphins. _"What was that!"_ she said out loud, _"Why can I not make myself feel like that? That was incredible"_. Sam stood up laughing, _"You are welcome"_. Kaylee sat up on the couch and unbuttoned Sam's pants. She pushed them down to her knees, turned Sam around. She stared at Sam's firm bum then squeezed her cheeks. Sam giggled and Kaylee pulled her down to her own lap.

Two hands went up under Sam's shirt and grabbed her boobs, squeezing and massaging them while she kissed at Sam's neck. One slid down her belly and parted her legs; the other pinched her nipple again winning another squeal. Kay lee's fingers gently parted Sam's already wet folds. Kaylee slid one finger slightly inside Sam. _"Oh, that's nice, I like that. More, please, farther, farther"_ she wanted to feel them buried in her wet pussy like she had seen in the pictures. _"I want to feel your fingers in me"_

Kaylee ceded and firmly pushed he fingers deeper._ "FUCK, Ouch, what the hell was that"_ Sam almost screamed as she jumped up. _"I'm sorry I'm sorry!" _Kaylee said_ "what did I do?" "I think you just took my virginity"_ Sam said. Kaylee was at a loss; she didn't know what to say and just sat there with her mouth slightly open. _"I'm sorry"_ Kaylee said again. _"It's ok," _Sam said, _"Fuck that hurt. That hurt really good though. That sounded stupid I know, but I want more, I'm not done, just go slowly ok? Everyone says it hurts the first time."_

Kaylee didn't know how to feel. She was a little proud, _"what do you think the soldier boys would think if they knew I was the first to break you?" _Sam laughed as she leaned back on Kaylee feeling breasts press against her back. _"You dirty little thing, I think they might have some trouble sleeping. Now where are those fingers?"_ Kaylee slowly and gently started rubbing again trying to get herself back in the mood; Sam was obviously ready and willing. Finally Sam piped up _"are you gonna take care of me or do I need to go get one of those strong soldier boys?"_

"_You little whore"_ Kaylee pressed hard on Sam's hard and swollen little bump and got a gasp for her efforts. She started rubbing slowly but pressing hard on the hard little bump. _"That's nice, I like that" Sam_ started grinding her hips and moaning softly _"I'll be your little whore if put that finger back inside me"_ she said. Kaylee complied; she slid her hand down and let one wet finger slide inside Sam. She slid up and down on her mound with her finger pushing in and out. Sam was grabbing her boobs and breathing hard, Kaylee thought she may pass out.

Sam asked how many fingers she was using. Just one Kaylee replied. Sam asked her to try two. Kaylee gently pressed another wet finger to the tight hole and Sam just about climbed the wall _"AAAAHHHhhh"_ Kaylee couldn't tell if it was good or bad but Sam finally sank back down to Kaylee's lap. Kaylee thought Sam sounded like she was about to cry so she pulled her fingers back and started rubbing her little bump again, pinching a nipple with her free hand. Sam put a hand down on top of Kaylee's and slid her own finger inside. She started grinding hard on Kaylee's lap as she worked her fingers. Sam slid a second finger inside her pussy and let out a cry, as her body started shaking. Kaylee Grabbed her breast hard and again pressed on Sam's little bump hard as she dared, Sam was almost screaming loud and fast _"AH! AH! AH!AH!" _she slammed her knees closed shaking on Kaylee's lap.

Kaylee drove her hand between Sam's legs forcing them open. Sam complied and opened her legs putting her knees outside of Kaylee's _"yea, ok more, I like it, I love your fingers, don't stop_". Kay lee had always liked Sam's bum, she was pretty fit herself but Sam just had a shape that appealed to her. She liked to feel Sam's naked bottom on her thighs, their sweat making them a little slippery. Kaylee was rubbing for all she was worth on Sam's shaking body, finally Sam started bucking her hips and let out a long _"ooooooooooooooo, Yeah, there it is, I love your fingers, uh, uh, ah, AH! AH!" _Sam was breathing had been shallow and quick but now she held it, her hips stopped bucking and her whole body tensed, then three violent bucks of her hips and she started gasping for air, Kayleeput her arms around her friend to stop her from falling over.

Why she was thinking about that first time with Sam while she was talking about such hard times with Reg she could not say. She was afraid he would be able to tell what she was thinking, her face must be red. She also knew that she was wet; she was trying not to look embarrassed, but was afraid in trying she was making it worse. She sat there trying not to stare at him but she could not help it. _What am I doing? Why is my head all over the place? Do I like this guy? Is this what it feels like? _Kaylee had never had a crush on a boy before. She had found some of the guys in the plant attractive but they were like cardboard to her. The closest she came to a crush was once wishing she could hang one of the guys on her wall to look at. She could talk to him, but while he was different, the more he was around the other guys the more he became like them.

The reason Kaylee never could stomach "plant boys or soldier boys" was she felt they were spoiled brats, arrogant without reason. The arrogance was the worst, just because you were born here to this not make you better than someone born outside. _You did nothing to deserve what you have; outsiders did nothing to deserve being born outside. Kids born in rich families or poor families don't deserve what they have, they did not work harder _she ranted in her head. The stuck up attitude of most of the insiders just made her ill, but Reg was not an insider, she liked Reg, she liked his honesty. She did know he was holding back but what he did tell her she believed was the truth. He did not deserve the life he had been born into. She could tell he had a soft heart, not jaded and cruel like some of the soldiers that tried to talk to her. Some would try to impress her with their stories of killing runners (that was what they were before they became clickers) but it just put her off. That was not heroics, they were no threat to a group of heavily armed men, it was sport, nothing more.

She tried not to think about kissing him. She had almost motherly feelings about him; she wanted to lie him down with his head in her lap. She wanted to make all his hurts disappear, his hands covered in small scratches, one knuckle still looked raw. She wanted to clean him up and wash all those cuts and scrapes off like mud. She wanted him to tell her everything; she wanted to know his life. Maybe it was just his voice; she would listen to anything he said just to hear it. She hated his scruffy hair though. It almost made her laugh; she wanted to help him so the other girls wouldn't laugh at him so much. He had nice enough hair she thought, dirty blonde almost brown, green eyes. He wasn't too tall, maybe average and slim. She decided she would help him, even if she never got the chance to have his head in her lap, she felt he deserved at least that.

Reg was amazed that they were for the most part like the girls he remembered from school. He noticed another table and girls collecting at it slowly. They were watching Kaylee talk to him and laughing with each other. He remembered the conversations they had about the boys, sometimes asking him if one of his friends liked one of their friends. Immature chatter from children with no idea of what was about to become of them, what the world outside was actually like. No one out there cared if you were popular, or if you could tell a joke well. What mattered outside was the ability to survive; anything else became meaningless pretty quickly.

The girls at the table were obviously older than the ones he remembered from school, but they did have a kind of happiness he hadn't seen since then. The school was well protected at that time; the military always had a presence there. _I guess I had that too, for a while._ He did feel like he was back there for a minute with the girls staring and talking.

Cope finally showed up, though Reg wished he hadn't, he wanted to talk to Kaylee more. Cope said there was a truck going back to the same part of town and could take him home. Cope Said hello to Kaylee and asked how she was doing. They seemed to be on good terms but Kaylee excused herself, got up and left. Reg watched her for stand up and turn to walk away but he tried not to look to conspicuous. She had on a loose fitting pair of jeans and a tight fitting tee shirt. He was really taken with her breasts, he had not even thought about them until she stood up. She had a very small waist he thought and looked like she must do some sort of training; she looked tighter somehow than most girls he had met. Cope sat down, _"I hope you weren't filling her head with horror stories he said"_. _"Nah, nothing she didn't already know, I could tell she was disappointed but she doesn't need to hear about all that"_ Reg responded. _"You know what she needs?"_ Cope asked. _"No, but I know nobody needs that" _Reg said. _"hmmm, true enough"_

"You seem like a good man" Cope said, "How old are you? "I don't know, I'm not really sure" Reg answered. "I was with my parents for a while, they got infected by spores. Another lady was staying in the same building, her man died and she couldn't deal with it. She locked up his body in a closet and he started growing that fungus, spores got into our place where my parents slept. I remember them both waking up one morning with really bad headaches. They took me to the school and I never saw them again. At the time, I didn't understand what happened." Cope just sat there staring. He didn't expect such honesty; Reg had gone through more than he thought. "I am really sorry to hear that" Cope said, "I have lost both my parents, but I was grown. When my mother died I was an adult and my dad lived several years after. I know how hard it was for me, losing them and being so young and at the same time, I could not imagine."

"I wasn't the only one; there were lots of kids with no parents. There was so many dead what did I matter? Why should my parents live when so many died? Why did I live?" Cope just sat and stared. "I was no better than anyone else but we had a school in town. I was lucky to get sent there with other kids. I don't know how old I was but I was there until it closed. One day they just said we are done, kicked everyone out and closed the doors. All the adults just walked away in whatever direction they wanted to go and they were gone. Most of the kids just stayed in the yard for a while, some of the kids grouped together some didn't have friends, and went out on their own, they didn't last long. Most of them didn't last long. I was one of the older ones, Dave and me, we stuck together."

"So you met Dave in school, you two must have been friends for quite a long time. Was it always the two of you or were you in one of those groups?" Cope was obviously shaken, but he got the feeling Reg needed to vent. He wanted to encourage him to open up, make him feel he was safe to talk to "maybe I can build some trust here" Cope thought. "Just don't go too far, don't pry, just let him talk" he thought.

"We had another kid with us for a while, just the three of us not really a group. He was little; we were stupid, stupid kids. I just couldn't leave him. How could they do that? They called him Brenn, I don't know why, I don't think it was his real name" He looked up at Cope. "Leave him? He wouldn't have lasted fifteen minutes; he would have been better off if they had of just shot him. So we let him come with us. He fell down a shaft in a building," Reg laughed a shaky nervous laugh.

"I should have shot him." He looked at Cope again. "An extra bit of time spent scared and hungry, was it worth it? We couldn't keep him safe. I couldn't keep him safe. I wish I could tell him I'm sorry. Fuck I'm sorry. I tried I swear I did" Reg dropped his head "He just ran, he got scared and ran, me and Dave were scared too. He should have just stayed quiet and listened, he was just a little kid and he ran. It was an elevator shaft; I guess he thought it was just another room. The doors were open but it wasn't there so he ran in and fell. What the fuck, we were just kids. How was I supposed to keep anyone safe? How could they just kick us out?" Reg put his head down on the table and Cope put a hand on his shoulder.

"You have been through too much" Cope said. "You would not have been let into the school if you were more than seven years old, that school you are talking about was the one with the green horseshoe and yellow banner?" "Yeah".

"Well, they closed ten years ago; if you were still there when they closed you were no more than fifteen. They kicked you out if you were sixteen; you are probably twenty five, that's about all I can tell you." "We should go, there is still lots of light. I know we still owe you, I'll see they treat you right, you'll get what you should for those clickers, and I want to make a deal with you, if you will deal with a soldier." "I may, I guess, depends on what you are asking" said Reg. "Well, you still have your humanity, I can see that. Most of the men in here have lost it and they haven't been through near what you have. You have actually lived through the hardship outside and still have empathy; you still have value for life. Can I ask how do you keep that?"

"My mom" Reg said. "I remember two things about my mom. I remember her fingers in my hair and one thing she drilled into my head. There is a difference between us and them, we are human, we are different; we are a soul and we are given a body she said. What we do with that body can strengthen our soul, or poison it. She was talking about animals, but I think it kind of works with infected. When, if, I see her, I want her to be proud of me".

"Yeah, she's proud, I'd be proud. You will fit just fine with what I have in mind." Cope said, "Just fine. You are gonna be my man on the outside. I need someone I can trust. I want to make a difference. The infected population is starting to decrease, and I want to help that. We have been able to get safe places to grow more food, a few water plants are running, we can help again." Reg just sat there. He felt like he had just been trampled on. He just said to a complete stranger things Dave and him never even talked about. "You are a superhero." Cope said. Reg looked at him, his eyes red and wet. Cope stared him in the eyes, "you are a fucking superhero, I have more respect for you than any man I have ever met." 

A lady came up to them at the table and put a small basket down in front of Reg. It contained his clothing and on top was a tray with the things he had in his pockets. "Thanks' Ann" Cope said. _"She can be your best friend or your worst nightmare"_ Anne smacked Cope on the shoulder. _"What?"_ Cope said, _"I have seen some of these boys piss you off and they get cold potatoes for a week."_ Anne looked at Reg with a warm smile._ "Your knives in your clothing are at the close out. Nice to see a new face"_ she said and went to walk away. Reg thought she seemed like the nicest person he had met since his mother died. She just seemed like a mother. She would not be as old as his mother would be if she were still alive, but she just had a warm caring feeling about her he thought. He wondered if she had children.

"This is Reg" Cope said and she turned back. "I'm hoping he will stay here for a few nights." "Ahhh, That plan of yours?" "Yes, that plan" "well" She said to Reg. "Obviously he thinks he found somebody, you must be a decent man."

Cope filled him in on the "close out". It was a small room beside the loading bay they used to come and go with the vehicles. It had a window and all weapons for an outing were loaded in that room before they were handed out to individual soldiers. Upon their return, all weapons are handed back through that window; none are permitted within the building.

"You didn't search me when we came in." Reg said "you let me in with all my stuff." "Yes," Cope said, "It was probably safer to let you in with them so there was no incident. You were on foreign ground with unfamiliar people, you didn't look like you wanted trouble. I figured you had enough trouble for a day, and would probably not give up everything willingly. Sorry for not being honest about that. Let's go get your stuff."

When Cope dropped Reg's clothing off with Anne, he asked her to be careful and there would probably be stuff in there that needed special treatment. _"Oh, and you'll know it by the smell, he was caught in the rain then stuck in a building for a day with some dead clickers"_ He asked that Reg's belongings be treated with respect as a personal favor. Anne said _"No problem"_ Cope had given her a bit of a run down on Reg. She took the clothing and said she would see to it personally. Cope and Anne had been friends for years, they may have been more but Cope could not bring himself to go down that road. He had also been friends with George, Anne's husband. They had come back safe from a bad outing; there was an attack on the squad by a group. George was the driver for most outings. He was really a decent driver; Cope felt he was the best at the plant. The squad did well stuck to the training and didn't lose a single man, but when they got back George had a heart attack and that was it, he was gone just like that.

Anne said she expected it, they all knew he was in bad shape physically but getting over a death should be a hard thing. Anne never missed a day, she liked serving the food and she liked the people. She said she needed them all like a big family, she missed George, but she still needed to take care of her family. No one said a bad word about her, besides, if someone did, they would probably get smacked by the person next to them. Anne would look at Cope, it had been about five years and they were both lonely. Anne knew how Cope felt about her; she figured _why not?_ Why have two lonely people when they like each other just fine?" Still, he knew George, they were good friends "she would be willing to wait for Cope to realize he was being silly." Now sitting with him and looking at Reg, she wondered if these two may be good for each other. She felt bad for Reg _"Those poor eyes, what they have seen" _She was happy Jim, he may be Cope to everyone else but he was Jim to her, had asked her to take care of his clothing. She may have burned them otherwise they were such a state. Jim had gone through some hard times as well; he had lost a lot of good men and now was stuck with this lot. They were not that bad, but they were not really trained military personnel, they were mostly just kids of people inside one plant or another.

There was still a lot of day light, enough time for a run so Cope took Reg to the close out to get the rest of his gear, the stuff they felt he didn't need inside. This apparently was quite a bit. The guy behind the window was not in cammo, and he said "about time" when he saw Reg approaching. He lifted a tray with a large paper bag on it. The bag had been taped shut and said Anne on it in thick black writing.

Cope laughed, "What the hell is in there?" Reg took the tray and said "huh, never realized how heavy that would be." He tore the bag open and started unpacking knife after knife and sliding them into little pockets he had sewn in his covers, in his boots, strapped to his arms, Cope just stood and stared. The guy at the close out called Cope over to the window, he had another box with the Reg's arrows. Cope walked over but never took his eyes off Reg stashing knife after knife.

When he had finally put the last knife in its place Cope laughed harder than he had in years _"You are worse than a lady going on a first date! That must have been twenty minutes."_ Reg looked up to see the brown truck ready to go and a three other guys staring at him. Cope grabbed the box of arrows and walked over to Reg. _"I doubt you'll need all of these, your guns bow and more knives than the Swiss infantry."_ Cope offered to hold the ones he didn't feel were necessary for the trip so Reg took the semi pistol and the Shorty, both good close range weapons the rest he took back to the close out. Frank finally introduced himself._ "I get the distinct impression that we will be seeing a lot of each other. I think I may as well just start you your own locker because you have some weird stuff. That .30-30 is a piece of history I have to say."_ The soldiers had rifles so there really was no point in carrying one, and the bow would not be much use with this many people stealth is not so much a group activity. He climbed back up in the bed of the truck again without a word.

They drove him back to his hold to get what he needed; they gave him time as well to clean out Dave's, no point in just leaving all the gear they worked so hard for. It was not hard, they didn't have much, mostly more knives and only two guns, the rest he may as well leave for the next people who would surely move in. They lived in an office building that was now used aa apartments. They had reinforced the door and put a metal cage door behind the wood door to their apartment. He grabbed the big six shooter revolver that looked impressive and could stop the oldest of infected with a single shot and the little .38, left the key in the lock and walked away.

While he was cleaning out their stuff, the soldiers drove off to pick up another clicker that was killed a few blocks away. Upon their return Reg hopped into the truck and Cope drove off without saying a word. Cope did not drive back to the plant though; he drove in a different direction for quite some time and brought them to a mall that had been built on the edge of town. Cope walked to the back of the truck and asked Reg to be sort of like a sheriff, not to do anything out of the ordinary, just keep an eye on the goings on and for any problem groups. Then he could call Cope and they would deal with "issues of concern", so he called them. Reg had been living in a small building but Cope had asked him to take over this mall that had been sealed years ago. It was not a huge building as far as malls go, but it would definitely make a good safe place for a community.

Cope was going have a team seal off the first two floors of the building from the outside. No windows or balconies just smooth walls fixed with concrete so no one could climb in. Only a front and rear door were going to be left for access. Both front and back would have double doors, and all four to have locks, also the venting for the underground must be found and secured. When they were done Reg could have his choice living space and as he saw fit people could move into the building. For the first couple days there would be a team soldiers to make sure the building was free of infected and work to seal off the first floors. Until then, he could stay in the plant for the evenings, but he was to respect their rules. Reg figured that it was a good deal, he wanted to change his life and it was probably the time to make that change. Cope got back in the truck and they drove back to the plant. The sun started to set and Reg had nothing to do but watch.

Back at the plant Frank gave him a hard time again about all his gear, but was mostly joking about it. Frank had spent quite a bit of time outside and was only offered a position inside when some soldiers found him riding an old four wheeler off road vehicle that he managed to get running. He was apparently quite the mechanic and had quite a few tools he had scrounged up, they were happy to have him in no small part due to his knowledge of weapons. This guy could make anything lethal. Well this is what Cope and one of the other soldiers had told him anyway. Reg couldn't care less, he was only thinking about another chance to see Kaylee

Back at the plant they all went straight to the showers, Reg had the chance to find some more clothes in some of the stores, nothing that would be considered valuable, or particularity useful from a hunting perspective, but things had changed. He had a place to go back to that was safe, he could leave things and they would be there when he returned. He could probably have more clothing than he ever had and no one would say anything. He had also found a pair of shoes that he liked, they were women's shoes with a long pointy heel. He didn't see the point of them but he saw a pair on a mannequin that was also wearing some kind of see through shirt and skirt. He took the shoes and hid them in his bag of clothing.

He sat alone again at his table and ate a dinner of potatoes and chicken. They raised chickens on the plant but did not have enough yet. Chicken was only served once every two weeks and even then only sparingly. He saw Kaylee sitting at her table of friends but they were leaving as his group got their food. She did look over at him, but all the girls did, they were laughing. He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

One of the girls came over and sat down across from him_. "Hi there, I'm Sam._" "Reg" he replied _"Nice to meet you." "So you are an outsider, how did you get Cope to let you in here?"_ _"I don't really know. I just got in the back of a truck and here I am" _

"_Have you ever killed anyone?" _Sam asked bluntly.

"_I'd really rather not talk about that". _Reg said. He could tell that she was not being serious; she seemed pretty friendly and outgoing, but he was not even going to joke about that.

_Wow Sam thought, a guy that doesn't want to talk about killing? All these guys want to do in here is brag about it_. _"How many people have you killed?"_

"_Really, I'm sorry, I just can't, it's not something I want to talk about right now." _

"_No that's ok,"_ Sam replied_, "I don't want to talk about it either, I honestly hate hearing about it. I just wanted to see if you were like the guys in here or not. Kaylee said you were different and I wanted to see. You need a hair cut just so you know."_

"_Thanks, I know."_

"_Kaylee was right, you do seem different. Maybe I'll talk to you again, people can act a certain way for a while, I still don't trust you, and soldier boys are all butt rings."_

"_I'm not a soldier, I'm an outsider, you already said that. Also, just so you know, outsiders generally don't like soldiers either."_ Sam got up and walked away, she had pretty brown hair down to her chin and she had tight jeans that looked good on her bum when she walked away, but it just made him want to see Kaylee more.

_"I talked to your boyfriend"_ Sam said.

"_What! Who, oh that. Come on are you really going to go bother me with that? I saw you talk to him, you talked to him almost as much as I did." _Nina and Kate just sat there and laughed. Nina said _"Look at him, he's a mess and he's probably infected anyhow. We'll probably all be dead in a week because of him."_ Kate backed her up as she always did._ "Yeah, look at him; I think that table will have to be tossed out. I'm never going to sit there again." _Nina chirped _"you know you can't believe a word he says right? All outsiders are liars and cheats. He probably wants to rob and kill us in our sleep. Sam, why would you even talk to him?_

"_Because he is a liar and a cheat of course. I'm going to go to his room tonight and tell him that you have twenty chocolate bars and a stack of batteries hidden under your bed."_

"_you would to wouldn't you." _

Julie butted in _"You really don't know what you are talking about" _she said to Nina and Kate. "_You two are such hens; you both talk about stuff you don't know anything about. Neither of you have been outside once in your lives, and neither of you have ever talked to an outsider. What makes you think you have any right to comment?"_

"_My dad was killed by an outsider thank you very much"_ Kate was the youngest of the bunch at fifteen, she was a tiny thing with a big mouth if you asked most of the girls. She as young and trying to find her place but she was too eager to defend herself and that caused her problems. Her dad was a laborer at the plant when the infection hit so he and his family were offered to stay inside as most workers were.

Over the years there had been many attacks on the plant, some of the attacks had been groups of armed wannabe soldiers looking to take over and control the water, other times it was just people who needed water and had no real chance of succeeding. The attacks were getting more common because the military in the area had lost so much strength and the outsiders had been getting more tactical. They had lost many people in these attacks but the military had actually been improving recently and sending more help to the plant.

Nina was only a few months older. The pair of them had attitude to spare and were involved in about every argument within the band. Julie was not the oldest of them but she always had the most level head. That quality got her sucked into more arguments than she would have liked, but she was the tallest of them and not so easily intimidated. Kate and Nina did not get along with her very well, though Sam and Kaylee got along with her just fine. Of the group Nina and Kate thought they were in charge, but the reality was they were tolerated but annoying.

"_I'm sorry, Kate, I know you are right, but there are lots of outsiders and they must be different just like we are different. You may as well say your dad was killed by a human and hate us all. That would make more sense."_

"_Fuck you Julie"_

Sam stood between Julie and Kate. _"You may want to back up, I am starting to get upset and someone is going to get slapped."_

"_You do not tell me what to do. Who do you think you are? Are you the new boss? You can try to slap me but you know I'll slap you back."_

Finally Kaylee stepped in. _"Kate, shut your mouth, Nina you too. None of us know anything about the guy so it's irrelevant."_

"Ohhh," Nina said _"You are the new boss. And why should any of us listen to you? You think you run things? Why don't you go run to him and ask him to help you?"_

"_Because I don't need to, I have no problem standing up for myself and the day I back down from you will be the same day I run outside naked and scream at the top of my lungs. If I hear another word from either of you I will knock out teeth. You two cause enough shit around here it would be about time someone did."_

"_Come on everyone, let's leave this heart sick butt ring and find something worthwhile to do."_ Nina turned and stormed off, Kate was the only one to follow her. Neither of them were going to push Kaylee, she may not be the biggest physically but she took her training the most serious of the bunch and was fully capable of dealing with Nina and Kate at the same time. Julie was not going to feel bad about the whole exchange even though Kate had started to cry after bringing up her dad. Obviously Reg being there was harder for her than any of them had realized. Of course that was not Reg's fault, but that did not make it easier for Kate.

By the time the girls had stopped arguing Reg had gone to his room for the night. He had watched through the corner of his eye for awhile hoping to see Kaylee but when he found her, she looked like she was into it with her friends. _They look pretty tense and sitting here watching until they are done will make me look like a creep. H_e had to be up for first light and thought it would be best just to leave it and turn in. He had to hope for another opportunity to see Kaylee while he was still welcome at the base.


	3. The Building

Nice to get positive reviews! Thanks.

I have made some substantial changes to this chapter. Sorry for the extensive delay, I had started the fourth chapter and it required more of this one. The fourth is well underway so hopefully it won't be as long a wait. Hope this one goes over well!

The building

They got to the building before the sun had started to warm the air. Cope held a meeting with his handpicked group of soldiers that were going to break the seal and enter the large gray building. The building was only a few years old when the outbreak started and was still in very good shape. The plan had been decided days ago, but Cope wanted to be sure they were all on the same page.

"_Let's make this a good day. We don't need any heroes we need people to take home safely at the end of the day. We don't expect any infected, but we have to assume some got in somehow alright? We all have jobs; we all know what is expected. Do those jobs and we all go home."_

Hugo added _"We ave to assume dere is infected in dere, or squatters. Dat building too nice spot to just pass up because military close doors; you know? Someone found way in. I wanna go home tonight an see my Ginny, no messing up."_

They still called themselves the military despite the fact that there was no real government any more. There had not been a real government for quite some time. Elected officials were a thing of the past, now it was people who were military commanders had settled in towns and ran the towns as the government. Most of the pockets of military were connected, and expected to maintain the old laws, they were not allowed to run as dictators. There was still the issue of distance and some commanders did take liberties. Some cities were safer than others, safer from hunters or safer from a corrupt leader, but all had their problems.

That was the main issue with Reginald's home town; the commanding officer was noticed by the "board" and was to be replaced. He cleaned house, all the weapons and rations and left with the soldiers willing to follow him. He left the town with no way to protect themselves and no food to stay for anyhow.

This day Hugo was to be the leader of the construction crew but everyone, even the military guys knew to listen to him. He was not a tall man, but he had a broad chest and powerful arms. Apparently he grew up on a farm but other than that he didn't talk much about his past. He generally wore long sleeved shirts but on the hottest days he would wear short sleeves but then tended to stay out of site. His arms were covered in tattoos, but the lettering was foreign and he had a bit of an accent that no one seemed to be able to figure out. Maybe people knew at one point, but if they did, it was long forgotten. None of the older people cared anyhow, older people being those who had memories of before the infection.

Hugo had saved a squad a couple years ago on an assignment that never existed. Closer to the truth would be that he saved some soldiers gone AWOL. Hugo was always saying you can't expect anything to go smoothly and that incident had proven his point. Cope had been away from the plant and there was report of a bloater in a drainage cistern. Some of the soldiers got wind and figured it would be a chance for some bragging rights, another story to impress the girls. Four of them decided to go after it and went to the close out for weapons. Frank was there as he always seemed to be.

"_Just going to pick up a clicker, it was put down just in town."_Baker was a sergeant now but had no respect from Frank. He figured Baker got promoted more for his aptitude with paper work and taking stress off Cope than his actual ability to lead

"_You can wait for Cope to come back."_

Both Jimmies piped up at the same time _"It's been dead a bit, they are worried about the fungus starting."_

"_Hmmmm. Alright"_ He had never had an issue with Jimmy D, he actually liked the guy. _"Jimmy D, This is on you"_

"_Alright Frank, we'll take it easy. But Baker is leading this one"  
_

Frank looked at _Steve "Yeah, we'll see."_

After they left Hugo approached Frank and asked him who he had let out.

"_I armed Baker, Steve and the two jimmies. They said they had a clicker that is a few days' dead." _

"_Frank, give me dat rifle in corner"_

Frank voice made him really uneasy, without question he grabbed the gun and slid it through the opening. Frank knew Hugo well enough to know something was up with the four he let out; he slid keys across the counter as well.

"_That one"_ he said pointing at the truck parked right out front.

Hugo quickly walked out to the truck got in and drove off. Not to where the soldiers claimed the dead clicker was, but to the cistern where the bloater was reported.

When Hugo got to the cistern the four soldiers were down in there battling with the bloater and eight clickers. The bloater had produced so many spores that none of soldiers could see farther than a few feet. They all had masks on but being down in the cistern they could not retreat, and the air was not moving to clear the spores. They were easy targets for the clickers, the concrete walls echoing every sound, though the gun shots did seem to actually affect them, maybe the noise was too much for them. The squad had also managed to let clickers between themselves and the ladder. _Stupids, dat whole bunch of dem, Hugo_ being above the opening in the moving air had a good view of things and could see heads above the swirling of spores. He lifted the rifle and took out the clickers by the base of the ladder then two head shots with the high powered rifle took down the bloater.

Steve at that point tried to order the squad to regroup but Hugo cut him off.

"_I'm gonna shoot anyone not out of dat hole in sixty seconds."_

None of them wanted to test him (he had a rifle pointed at them) so they left the dead infected where they were and climbed up. Baker was the last man out and when he was finally on level ground Hugo yelled "_ATTENTION"_

The four kind of looked at each other unsure if they should accept his order

"_You are not in command here"_ Steve said.

Hugo walked up to him, looking up at Steve Hugo stared him in the eyes and said very quietly _"attention"_

Steve glared down at him. Hugo had slung the rifle over his left shoulder and held it with his left hand. Looking up at the taller man with almost no expression he swung and broke his nose with a right hook. Steve was fairly practiced in hand to hand and even managed to get an arm up but Hugo was so powerful it didn't matter; it was enough for Steve he just sat on the ground holding his nose. Oddly enough when they did get back to the plant it was Hugo's wife Gin that set his nose. Some commented he looked better after than he did before, Gin was a very social lady with a soft heart. She never could abide injuries and would offer to bandage the smallest cut so when she heard about Steve's nose, she almost ran to help him. She was short and a bit over weight and was very patient. She also had a sense of humor that never quit. Anne joked that she should do a stand up night at the plant but Gin would never want to be the center of attention, though she usually was because of her nature.

Hugo looked at the other soldiers and they ran to form a line. _"Sit down."_ There were no exchanged glances this time they all sat in the grass without question. _"Not you"_ he said to Baker _"you come with me"_ and he walked off to the shade of a tree. _"What was dat? That was not dead stinky clicker."_

Baker looked at him not sure if he should answer.

"_Please, how you all end up in ditch?"_

Baker looked at Steve and decided answering may be his best bet._ "Well, we heard about the Bloater and wanted to nab it before it hurt anybody. The cistern was empty so we figured he'd gone up the pipe a ways. I told them to surround the cistern and we would make some noise and try to draw it out, it was supposed to be alone. Steve positioned himself close to the ladder and when everyone was formed up just yelled "I'm going in" He started down the ladder and then called us to back him up_._ I couldn't let him go down alone so when they looked at me I told them to go. Steve was at the pipe before they had gotten to the bottom he told them to cover the pipe and he went in. Wasn't thirty seconds later bullets were flying and there was a big pop, Steve comes hopping backwards out of the pipe followed by a cloud of spores. The clickers started coming out and Jimmy got hit hard with a spore bomb to the chest and could hardly stand, Steve grabbed him and started to drag him to the back. Jimmy D moved back towards the ladder and the next thing I know he is screaming. I think Steve might have shot him but I'm not sure, it doesn't look too bad, his left calf, if it was a bullet it barely grazed him, he can stand. With all the screaming the clickers came for him and I climbed down to help him. The clickers moved towards us so we had to abandon the ladder and move to the far side. The spores were getting so heavy; I can't believe that bloater could produce so many."_

"_You know noting. You not know enemy, you go down in ditch wit enemy, you almost kill four men. You know noting. You nice boy, but nice boy follow order not give order. He, he not nice boy _(Hugo was pointing at Steve) _but he know noting either. He don want to take order but not smart to give order. You all go home, we send oders to get dis clean up."_

Hugo brushed imaginary dust off his shirt with his free hand.

That was the last time Baker was in charge anything, and Steve was not let out of the building for more than a month. When finally was let out on a mission he was only there to guard the truck. He had caused the injuries of two soldiers on an unsanctioned mission and that was not going to be taken lightly. Still he blamed the other guys as he always found a way to do and he still had the same attitude like he felt he should be running the whole show. Jimmy D started calling him Mr. Clean after that because nothing ever stuck to him, at least in his own mind.

Since that incident the two Jimmies had been pretty flawless. They had followed orders perfectly and it seemed to Cope, they matured from boys that cared about chasing girls to seasoned soldiers in one day. They would be the first through the door followed by some guys from another base, then Cope with the construction crew. Baker was allowed to lead the small squad that followed the construction guys in. Steve would stay outside with four other old timers to watch the vehicles.

The old timers as they were known were long term military, to be one of them you had to put the time in. The old timers were pretty much all military before the outbreak, but some were accepted who had enlisted at the time or slightly after the outbreak. They were more than happy to guard the vehicles; they had seen enough action and had enough stories. They also would not take a bit of attitude from Steve; they were hard and knew how to deal with guys like Steve. Your were likely to get a rifle butt from one of those guys. There was no question about their willingness to participate, any action and they would be in the thick of it within a minute.

Reg was not invited to be part of the military group; he would go in with the construction guys. Cope figured there was enough tension with the soldiers from two different bases; he didn't need to bring in someone they all felt was not only an outsider but not even a trained soldier. The guys did actually get along pretty well, they had worked together often enough, but the opportunity to prove one's self and look like a though guy rushing into danger was candy to babies.Once inside Jimmy D and his crew started their circle to the left and the other Jimmy went right with his crew. Store by store they went opening the metal shutters and searching every hiding spot large enough to hide a child until they met at the other side of the main level. A smaller group went to the middle of the area with the construction guys just in case there was trouble. They would join Jimmy D later.

_"Clear!" _Came from Jimmy first and another ten minutes before the clear came from Jimmy D. Both Jimmies knew this was not a race, both knew their futures rode on not making a mistake here. Jimmy lead his crew to the broken escalator and ascended to the second floor, the group that had stayed with the construction guys went and joined with Jimmy D to make a larger group. Jimmy D's crew was to search out the basement parking level and since infected fall down stairs better than they climb them, they would probably be in the parking level, more danger more people.

The first order for the construction crew was to be sure all entrances and exits were closed. Outer doors were removed jambs and all; the holes were filled with cinder blocks. Windows were also removed and filled; shop by shop they would go through the first floor emptying them and keeping anything worth keeping. Most of the stuff was in good condition but electronics were useless to all but the few still having access to generators and fuel. Anything battery powered could be used if you could get batteries; most of those had corroded beyond use. Metal scrap was taken, clothing was always up for grabs, first come first served and what was left was to be distributed to the other plants. Most of the guys spent at least some time looking for new clothing, though they were warned to stay out of the woman's clothing. The woman's clothing would be boxed and taken back to the plant, then Anne would go through it, set it out in the gym and the girls could go through it the same way the men did, first come first served, it was the fair way.

Most of the shops on the main floor were little junk shops, old candy stores, stationary, magazine shops, a music store, electronics, the upper level was mostly clothing. One store Fred wood or something, most of the sign was missing, had the guys buzzing and laughing. Cope told Jimmy to leave the shop locked up. Most of the stores were locked up with their metal shutters or curtains, they had to be cut with either bolt cutters or a hack saw, sometimes a big sledge hammer had to be used, it was not a quiet operation.

Cope had stayed on the main floor with Hugo to oversee the goings on. The second floor was open in the middle to the upper floors so he could sometimes see Jimmy's crew at the balcony. Jimmy D's larger crew was gone, but they did have radio contact. Jimmy lead with Dean from the other plant down the metal stairs of a long out of service escalator.

Dean was sweating under his heavy gear. No short sleeves until the place was clear and at the rate they were inching along that would be a week. They moved slowly down the hallway from the base of the escalator to what looked like a room with walls that were almost completely windows. The air was not that warm, but the stress was making his heart pound. He took a few breaths and tried to calm his nerves._ "This doesn't smell right Jimmy"_

Jimmy D almost laughed _"I know, I was thinking the exact same thing but I figured I was being paranoid. Do you think there are some open doors or something letting the air move? I don't see any spores, nothing_"

"_Hmm, shit something is gonna hit the fan here things are never this easy. There must be hunters, someone's got to be in here."_

"_I know man, its way too clean. Dean, if I die you can have my stereo."_

"_Don't make me laugh you prick. If I see anything I'm tripping you and running." _Jimmy wiped the back of his wrist across his forehead above his mask. They all wore masks until the place was fully searched, you never knew what was on the other side of a door.

The hallway did end in a small room that had only half walls with glass the rest of the way to the ceiling. They could see all the way around the level, it was underground parking. There was nothing but pillars and cars. The group filed into the room and spread out crouching along the walls looking for any movement. There were two sets of doors in the small room aside from the one to the hallway. Jimmy decided to separate the two teams and explore. There was no immediate threat, and the visibility was good throughout the whole garage. Any infected should be easy to spot; the only problem may be hunters or squatters.

_OK, Dean you take your guys out that door we will go out this door. We'll fan out and head to that wall." _ Jimmy D pointed to the wall in front of him about fifty feet away._"We'll head there together and see if there are any problems. The main door is in the other direction, so we'll head there to finish if things go well. Cool?"_

"_Sure D, but can you try not to scratch the cars?" _There was some laughter from the squad. They all knew Dean loved cars. The squad had taken position along the wall opposite the big roll up door. There was not much to hide approaching clickers.

"_Hold on, Jimmy."_ Dean reached into a garbage bin and pulled out a bottle.

"_NO!"_ Dean said with a hushed yell. _"Glass" _Hehad already pulled out a can from the bin next to him and tossed that to Jimmy.

"_You gotta be kidding me." _With a nod, one of his guys opened the door to the main parking area and he tossed the can out twenty feet, it rattled to a stop and then it was quiet enough to hear the blood pumping in your ears.

Dean looked at Jimmy D_ "Nothing. I'm really getting nervous here"_

One of Deans squad, Marty, piped up _"Like that other guy said, things just don't go smoothly"_

Marty had been around quite a while and had seen enough action, some with Dean. Marty could easily be leading both teams but for some reason had no interest in being promoted. Dean knew he had a good head and was willing to accept input from him.

"_What do you think Marty?"_

"_Jimmy D's got the best plan I have heard."_

"_He's got the only plan you have heard smart guy."_

Dean nodded and Marty pushed the door open with a shoulder and moved out holding the door open with his shoulder as the rest of the team filed out into a group. When they were all out they moved in tandem with Jimmy D's team to the front wall of the room and fanned out. They started heading towards the back wall of the garage with a few guys from each team walking backwards to be sure no one snuck out behind them. The air was a bit damp and musty but no smell of death or even a trace of spores. That should have been good news but it made them somehow more on edge then the foul smell they had expected.

Reaching the back wall Jimmy D took a quick head count and figured they might as well keep moving. He looked at Dean and Dean nodded towards the other side of the garage. Jimmy D scanned the guys looking for any protests. They were all looking at him and all looked nervous.

"_Let's Go"_ he said and they started back to the large roll up door on the far side. They were more spread out than any of the guys were comfortable with and the lack of any noise was disconcerting. It was an eternity before they got back to the midpoint of the small room. Now they would be separated by the hallway if they kept moving. Jimmy D decided to stop and talk quickly to Dean and Marty. Do we do one side first or separate and go on? Dean looked as nervous as Jimmy D felt.

Marty piped up. _"There's nothing here. Let's just get this done, any infected aren't going to be hiding, any hunters would have gone after us bu now, squatters would have left junk. There's no one here."_

They decided to split and started moving and then Dean saw it out of the corner of his eye. He stopped in his tracks, Marty dove for the nearest car and every other man there scurried for cover like scared mice. Dean just stood there staring, behind a van he could see it just poking out. Jimmy D looked at Marty who shrugged his shoulders. He slowly raised his head as Dean started walking, then he saw it too.

"_Shit"_ he said _"this day is over."_

It was mint, not a dent, not a scratch in the red high gloss paint of one very shiny 2020 Chevrolet Corvette. Marty Shook his head and looked at Jimmy D. _"I nearly pissed myself he scared me half to death."_

"_What is the problem?"_

"_You don't want to know, you'll shoot him"_

"_A car."_

"_Yep"_

"_Take them, every little hole you can find, don't miss a bloody thing I still don't feel good, we have to be missing something. Do the rooms as well"_

Marty circled his hand over his head calling the rest of his team to move on. They formed back into their two group's one to search the north section one the south section of the U shaped garage. They searched under every car and corner and came up empty, not a sign that anyone had been in the building. Finally the only places left to search were the mechanical and electrical rooms. When the military originally sealed the building they had replaced all the locks with their own for ease of military access. Some of the master keys had been captured from killed soldiers however, so you could never be sure. They found nothing but nicely preserved cars. Exhaust vents were all still secured and no sign of squatters.

Upstairs anything that was useful was separated to be taken back to the base. There were three restaurants that still had their ovens and other devices intact; those were taken to be shipped to other bases. The military had taken a beating but obviously still had a presence in at least a few places. The Fireflies were in the same boat though, in some cities they were all but extinct, others they had more control than the military. They seemed nonexistent here, that was the Jimmies biggest fear. They had talked about it previous to the entry and both had admitted they were afraid they would find the place filled with Fireflies. The anti military group had not had a real presence here in some time and the military at the plant did not run a QZ so they were never really a target anyhow.

Reg was surprised at how many men were sent to do the job, a few were driving scrap back to the plant, there were two calls for clickers to be picked up that they went to as well and some just seemed to come and go without doing much. By the end of the first day they had cleared most of the shops and had put all the stuff into the center area of the mall. Two shops had to be sealed to the outside though most didn't actually have doors to the outside and the military apparently had done a decent job of securing the building some point in the past.

Reg saw Jimmy D and his crew had finally come back up from the parking level and gone over to Cope and Hugo. He went back to pulling the shelves out of an old pharmacy. One thing about doing the pharmacy was it was easy, all the shelves were bare. He and another guy named Grant had the shop emptied in a few hours. Reg was more than happy about getting that job done, Grant sweat more than any man he had ever seen and stank like no human should.

Meanwhile Jimmy D finally got to talk to Cope.

"I found nothing man. It was weird, I still think something is wrong, NOTHING"

Cope just looked at him for a minute._ "Why is that so bad? What do you feel you missed?"_

"_I'm not sure. There was no reason to think someone was there, no garbage, no tools, spent shells, nothing. It seemed way too clean, not even a bad smell."_

"_Alright, take Jimmy and Dean and whoever, a couple guys and take Reg he's fresh from the outside. Go make another sweep, start at the top and work down. You have about four more hours, use them all if you want. Oh, make sure Reg has a gun."_

"_Reg? Have __A__ gun?"_

Cope laughed _"Yeah, he probably has six, just make sure."_

Up on the top floor they found a few woman's clothing stores that had not been disturbed, there was also a woman's underwear store that had some pretty frilly things in the window and another store that had things that looked like an underwear store, but some of the underwear was pretty crazy. That store got some attention, all the guys wanted to go take a look at it but Cope made them leave the shutters locked. Cope went in with Hugo and searched the store to clear it and no one else entered.

Jimmy D said to no one in particular _"we should bring the women here for a shopping spree. They are always complaining their clothes are worn out."_

Jimmy D's new team went back down to the parking level. They searched the whole floor again and found nothing, until Dean got back to the Vette. He fawned over it like a little girl with a kitten. Cope and Hugo came down after searching Fred Woods store to see if they had found anything.

Cope walked over to Reg_ "Anything odd?"_

"_Nope, not a thing, it looks to me like no one has been in here. If I had of known about this place I'd have been here for sure. What do you think about that?" _He pointed to Dean and gave a chuckle.

"_We'll see. Are they treating you right?"_

"_Yeah, they seem like decent guys but I doubt we'll be playing cards anytime soon."_

"_I hear ya. It is a tough club to get in to, but then not only do you do have to want to get into it and I don't think you do, but you have to wear the uniform and I don't think you want that either."_

"_Oh I see some good things with what you have at the plant, but not all of my memories of soldiers are warm and fuzzy. I guess not all soldiers are created equal"_

"_Yeah, I hear that. Some bad things have gone down that embarrass what we used to stand for. I would like to try to get that name back. You talk to the old guys; they know what the military stood for. Serve and protect was not a motto for them it was truth, it was simply a way of life. Well, I have to go separate the two love birds" _Cope walked off towards Jimmy D, Reg went back upstairs to help Hugo's guys again.

_They work fast _Reg thought, _never expected the military to do anything fast._ They did not start packing up until the front and rear doors had been secured. By that time the sun was going down and everyone was too tired to work anyhow. They did not have fuel to spare for generators, so the trucks were packed with workers, the gear stayed on site. Reg watched what was to be his new home, a huge gray building shrink in the distance.

When they got to the base Frank actually said _"oh no" _as he saw Reg approaching _"you got to be kidding, tell me you didn't take all your knives. COPE where are you? You are going to pat this guy down before he gets in right?"_

Cope laughed, _"He's good"_

"_No I'm not."_ Reg said. _"There was a sporting goods store in there."_

Cope looked at him with a goofy kind of look _"That place was totally cleaned out."_

"_Well, not actually, seems you guys don't know how to search very well." _Reg pulled a pouch out from under has covers and opened it. He dumped four pistols out on the counter of the close out, one a very nice chromed piece.

"_I'd really like to keep that one if you don't mind."_ He said to Cope.

"_Dang, I guess we can call it yours. You added another three to our inventory and that's four more that won't be shooting at us."_

"_There is a box of ammo sitting under the seat of the pickup as well"_

Reg asked Frank for a basket, pulled off his covers neatly folded them and placed them in the basket. He Put the few weapons he had taken with him on the pile and placed the basket on the desk of the close out picked up the chrome pistol and added it to the pile as well. He got the evil eye from Frank and Cope looked at him as well.

"_I got nothing!"_ Reg said lifting up his shirt_._

"_Alright let's go" _Cope said to Reg _ "he's just giving the new guy a hard time."_

They walked off towards the mess. _"I have some things I need to see too. You know where to get food and cleaned up."_ Cope turned and walked off.

Reg ate his dinner alone at his usual table and again looked about to see if he could find Kaylee. He couldn't find her or the other the other girls so he finished his food quickly, mashed potatoes again, a fried egg and mystery meatloaf, again. Reg was feeling pretty nasty, he had been getting used to being clean and he really didn't want to run into Kaylee until he had a chance to clean up. He returned his tray and went to go for a shower but Anne intercepted him.

"_Hey Reg, how are you doing?"_

"_Hi Anne. I'm good, you?"_

"_Oh, not much happens inside this place, one day is as good as the next if you have the right attitude. Are you getting used to us?"_

"_Yeah, it's not much different. Same as on the outside different people have different attitudes. Some get along some not so much. I guess for the most part it's not the people that make the difference but the structures they put in place."_

"_Huh, I actually see what you mean. You are used to doing things a certain way, but people in different situations make different rules. It's the rules you need to adjust to, or rules I see is not the right word, the structure they create, but the people more or less are the same."_

"_Yeah, of course you get used to certain people, you make friends, but friends come and go for many reasons. Then you have to start over."_

Annewas almost ready to cry at the thought of what this guy must have lived through. The loss of his friend was still very fresh and he must be hurting still over that but there could be so many others in and out of his life. She felt bad for making him think of such serious matters, but she wanted to know him better. Not just because of concern for an outsider in their midst, but he seemed genuine and she felt his life had been so hard a soft shoulder may win him over. Anne thought he may have a lot to offer their group.

"_I'm sorry"_ she said,_ "You were on your way to the shower weren't you?" _She didn't give him time to answer_ "You are covered head to toe in dust, off with you. And I'll see if I can't find a little something for you. Go."_

Reg turned and walked to the shower. He sat for a while before undressing and getting into the shower and letting the warm water massage the back of his neck. He finally realized he may have been asleep on his feet. He had no idea how long he had been in there, the wrinkled fingers said a while.

After he had dressed in some of his new clothes he decided to go for a walk through the hallways, he did his best thinking when he walked alone. Not the best habit outside, but in here it was a good opportunity and soon was as lost in the maze of light beige walls and dirty white floors as he was in thought.

When he saw Kaylee at the far end of a hallway he had to give his head a shake. _Am I dreaming? Did I actually see her or, no you must have imagined it_. He walked down the hall to the corner already lost again in his thoughts. As he turned at the end of the hall he heard a _Pssst. _He turned to see Kaylee at the far end of that hall. After following her down three more hallways he was starting to get a bit frustrated. _Am I supposed to follow her or not? Am I stalking her?_ She appeared to be making sure he was keeping up, _what is going on? _Finally he saw he walk into little hall with one of the little girl stick figures over it. Bathroom or locker room, he wasn't sure but he was pretty sure he was not supposed to follow her in there.

He walked up to the entrance anyhow and stopped for a minute, he looked around but no one was there.

"_Hello?"_

Kaylee looked around the corner. _"Is anyone there_?"

"_No, well, just me."_

"_Come on"_ she said, _"I need you for a minute, well more than a minute."_

He walked in and she had a chair there and a blanket and a bunch of stuff he did not like the look of.

"_What is this?"_

"_Just sit and let me do my thing, the girls are all laughing at you_." She wrapped the sheet around his neck and pulled out a pair of scissors.

"_Oh, and Anne asked me to give this to you." _Kaylee said handing him a scrunched up wad of material.

"_What is it?"_

"_Chocolate cake."_

Reg looked at the wad of material and started opening it up. Inside was a little chunk of brown bread with white dust on the top of it.

"_You eat it" _Kaylee laughed,_ "It won't bite you. Anne must really like you."_

Reg put the bread in his mouth and chewed it up. It was soft and he had never tasted anything like it before. The white dust on the top was really tasty. He smiled._ "That was good."_ He finally said.

He was looking at Kaylee in the mirror in front of him and he noticed her face change. She suddenly lost her smile and got serious.

"_I do this for my dad all the time, my mom used to. I wasn't good at it at first, but I don't know, I think I'm alright now."_

She was cutting away before he was even comfortable in the chair; evening out what looked to be something he did with a hunting knife and no mirror.

"_How could you walk around with this mop? What do you cut your hair with? "_ she asked laughing.

He looked up, she was smiling again.

"_Ahhh, I don't know?"_ he was suddenly very self conscious _"Nobody ever said much about it before. I guess it didn't really matter."_

_Stupid _Kaylee thought _here he is running for his life and you think he's gonna worry about his hair? _Now it was her turn to feel uncomfortable.

Reg saw her smile disappear again._ "Ahh, I actually know a guy who will buy hair. He plans on using it to make rope. He wants the rope to build a raft so he can go to some island there are no infected on."_

"_He needs Hair to make the rope?"_

"_Yeah, uhh, he thinks that it will not fall apart in salt water."_

"_You're joking. Are you joking?"_

"_He thinks he will float to an island where sailors used to hide rum in secret underground places. It's a secret island that the ocean currents will naturally take you to but no one has found it because no one trusts the current."_

Kaylee looked at him in the mirror, he had a grin. _"You're a jerk; you actually had me believing you."_

Reg laughed.

_Reg was _so taken by her fingers running through his hair that he could not concentrate on anything else. He was almost instantly lost in the memory of his mothers fingers, the emotional rush was unexpected and he couldn't think let alone talk he just sat there. The memory of his mother was so strong he could almost remember her smell; he could hear her voice like she was right there in the room with him.

_I'll love you forever,_

_I'll like you for always._

_As long as I'm living,_

_Your mother I'll be._

He had tried to remember that song a thousand times. If Kaylee never gave him another thing he would always call her the person who gave him his greatest gift. He looked up at her reflection in the mirror. Another feeling came creeping in. She was beautiful, he knew she was attractive but this was more. She was the most beautiful person he had met. The caring softness in her hands, a strength that he could see in her eyes, he could listen to her talk all day long. It was not long enough before she had finished his hair,

"_Well, it's not the greatest, sorry, but it is much better than it was. Now for that scruff if you trust me."_

She pulled out a mug with some sort of powder or something and a round brush. Kaylee smashed it up to make a sort of foam and spread it on his face. She pulled out a straight razor and tilted his head back. He let her work without question just to feel her fingers on his face as she moved his head, he wondered if it was intentional that he turned his face towards her and leaned in close. It was a knife to his heart when she said_ "all done"_. He mirrored her smile though he didn't feel like smiling; he was hoping maybe she had missed a spot. He was happier than he could ever remember being, but it was an oddly serious kind of happy.

She wiped his neck with a warm cloth and pulled off the sheet. He was glad he had adjusted himself before she had pulled it off; he was more excited than he had ever been, if she had wanted him he felt he'd be done before she was undressed. Looking up in the mirror he was stunned to see the strange face looking back. It was not a face he had ever seen before; it was him, just different he looked like a kid.

"_Wow"_

"_You like it?"_

"I guess, I just look really different, I, do you like it?"

She laughed, _"You look good when you're cleaned up. I knew it! I hope you don't mind. I guess I never asked you if you even wanted that_"

"_Ummm, that was a weird experience. I have never had any kind of attention like that since my, uhhh, for a long time."_

His smile faded in an instant but he caught himself and smiled at her. _"Thank you. Really thank you. I don't know what to say."_

"_You don't have to say anything. You're welcome"_ she smiled as he looked at her.

"_I don't have never seen someone as pretty as you" _he heard himself say, his mouth was talking despite the protests of his brain "_and you have been the nicest person I think I have ever met."_ He stood up.

Kaylee looked up at his tired eyes wondering if they were tired from a long day or tired of a painful life. She put her hands on his shoulders, stood up on her toes and kissed him on the lips. She slowly let her heels fall to the floor keeping her eyes on his. She bit her lower lip, He stood there with a kind of goofy look not knowing what to say his mouth slightly open like he was going to say something but forgot what it was. She laughed at him.

"_You really haven't had much attention from girls have you?"_

"_Not so much, I guess. Shows huh?"_

"_I can't sit with you in the mess hall"_

"_Ah, OK. I didn't think you would"_

Reg sat back down in the chair.

"_I don't mean to be rude or mean or anything"_

_She_ seemed to feel he took that like a punch in the face but she had to say it, besides it just kind of came out of her like someone else said it.

She tried to explain_ "It's just that I don't know how my dad would take it. All the plant people kind of stick together, they call it a union. If he gets pissed enough the military guys may give you the boot."_

"_It's alright; I understand, you made sure no one saw us here, what would be the difference tomorrow? I don't know what you think of me"_

"_NO" _She protested _"I do"_

"_Relax, stop, Let me finish. I don't KNOW what you think of me, but I think I have some idea. I do know I am a stranger here. I am not comfortable here, and I don't think people are comfortable with me here. Not everyone anyhow. You seem to be _(that made her laugh) _Anne seems to be, but most don't. It's ok; I'm the new guy from the wrong side of the fence. I wouldn't trust me either I've seen what can happen. I'll trust you even if you have to be cold with the others around. After that, what you did for me, your fingers in my hair, I will not believe anything until I hear it from you when we are alone."_

"_You are the first boy I have kissed"_ Kaylee blurted out. _"I really don't want you to feel you owe me something for that, and I don't want to have this ended by something stupid. Don't get me wrong, I'm not thinking we are gonna pledge our lives to each other, just that if we like each other then I want to see where that goes in its own time, I don't want someone else to decide. If I decide I don't like you then that's another story."_

Kaylee moved in front of Reg and straddled his legs. She put both her hands gently on his head and slowly ran her fingers through his hair down to the base of his neck and held him for a moment, looking in his eyes the whole time then turned and walked away. He needed to readjust himself again before he stood up.

Reg sat for a few minutes and got up to walk away. He picked up the razor and carefully cleaned it with the sheet Kaylee used to cover him. He closed the razor and set it on the counter next to the mug of foam and looked at the brush. _What do I do with that?_

He figured the best bet would be to take it to the shower and rinse it out there. Really, he didn't know what to do with any of the stuff but had he couldn't just leave it. He folded the sheet and tucked it under his arm, stashed the razor in his pocket. He looked at the chair and the hair on the floor, _piss on it._

Reg left the chair and the hair where they were grabbed the mug like a drink and off he went to find his quarters _I should have gotten her to draw me a map_. In the plant most of the offices had been turned into quarters as well as some of the other smaller board rooms and such. There were many unoccupied and some entirely unused rooms. They tried to keep the living quarters on the lower floors and in close proximity. They did not want anyone too far away, any screams must be heard so privacy in this place was lacking. Down one hall he swore he heard Cope talking to someone. He didn't stick around to listen but walked past as quietly as he could.

"_I need a new bra. Simple as that, you know nothing about it so who are you to complain? Are you just going o go pick one out for me? Should I tell you the size or let you guess?"_

Anne had picked undergarments for a few reasons. One was she knew it always made men uncomfortable, and the other was she wanted him to think about her in her underwear. She had had enough of the lonely nights and wanted a sort of company that could make you forget about the bad things at your gate.

"_I could just bring you the whole store. Why do you need to go?"_

"_You said yourself that the building was searched top to bottom and was clean. I have not left this building in more than a month; I have not been outside the gates in over a year. I am an adult and I bloody well want to go see it for myself. And some of the other girls want to go too."_

"_No, I can't."_

She glared at him.

"_I can't. No, seriously, I can't. Stop looking at me. Really, don't try to make me feel bad."_

Anne had got up off the bed where she was sitting and walked over to his chair looking down at him. She spread his legs and moved between them.

"_I can't. What are you doing?"_

Anne sank to her knees in front of him.

"_What? I'm really not comfortable with this" _Cope was starting to sound desperate.

Anne almost laughed. Cope must have been sweating; she could see the stress on his face. She had a small feeling inside that was growing she realized. She almost felt bad for him. _Oh poor guy_ she thought _are you scared? _She was not going to let him off despite the pity she felt for this big strong man.

"_I am trying to express how important it is for not just myself but also the other girls, to get the fuck out of this building and go shopping. I want to get out of here for a few hours and you are standing in my way, what do I have to do to change that?"_

She got the reaction she wanted when he heard the word fuck come out of her mouth. He had never heard her say that and looked like he had been poked with a stick when she did. She wanted him uncomfortable; she put her hands on his thighs and sat on her heels.

"_How can I put this in a way a military man will understand? How bout, we are going tomorrow or I will not wash another uniform, ever, you can have your men wash their own uniforms and as I am a civilian you can't order me to do anything."_

"_Alright alright but not tomorrow, wait until the day after ok? Just one more day to make sure things are fine. We will not touch the stores on the second floor other than to recheck for infected or anything else. One day."_

Anne stretched up to kiss his cheek. She made sure to press her chest against his before standing and walking out. She had won and she felt like a high school girl. She was exited and hadn't felt that way for a whole lot of years. _I'm 40 not dead, and he's going to find out how not dead he is as well._

After more hallways and time than Reg wanted he finally found his room and crawled naked into bed. He was woken by a knock at the door he realized he actually had been asleep. It felt like it could not have been more than five minutes though because of the cloud in his skull. He dragged himself out of bed climbed into his cargo shorts and his largest shirt hoping they would conceal the iron bar he had woken up with. He looked at the sheet he had placed on the little table with it's shiny metal legs in his room. Maybe he'd have a chance to shake it out this evening and sneak it into the laundry but for now he decided it may be better to stuff in under his cot. Reg folded the razor in the sheet and figured he better get moving, first a few pushups to get some blood to his brain to clear the lack of sleep headache, and then headed to the mess.

He had some more eggs and some mix of something they called mashed potatoes and other stuff he didn't really want to question. Again he sat at a table by himself to eat. He looked around to see what the guys he was working with were doing, when they got up to leave, he would follow. He did manage to catch a glimpse of Kaylee; she was with another girl walking to a table her group of girls had taken. She caught his look and gave him a snub sort of reaction, he felt like a looser back in school for just a minute. Some of the girls did steal glances at him and may have been talking about him but it really didn't matter. All he was thinking about was her gentle fingers on his head running through his hair and her nails on the back of his neck.

If he never talked to her again, he would still have that. He knew she liked him but who knows what the others would say,

_Who would trust me in here? I'm an outsider._ He didn't need to remind himself, he didn't trust most of the people in here either.

She had a life and he could not expect her to just go against everyone in her world, nobody in here accepted him accept Cope maybe, and Anne. He had nothing in this fenced in world, but the world outside had nothing for him, just this apparent desire to take his life. Everything out there was trying to take life, infected and hunters. He did have a purpose, he was physically able, he had weapons and he would try to make the world a safer place for those to come no matter which side of the fence he slept on. He had to, if enough people did, maybe someday it would be safe and kids could play in those parks. There were so many, what it must have been like to see them filled with kids running and climbing and no fear.

Up with the other soldiers and a last glance in Kaylee's direction, she wasn't looking. Off to the close out for his covers, he took the shiny pistol he claimed yesterday and a midsized knife. He went out front to help load the few supplies they were taking and climbed into the back of the truck for the chilly morning ride to the building. The plant was a bit outside of town and a paved road led between. He was startled from his daydream by a guy screaming, he was on top of a jungle gym in an old city park cornered by some runners. Cope stopped the truck and some soldiers jumped out but it was already too late.Pop, pop, just like that and the runners were down. The soldiers looked at each other to see which of them had been so quick to the trigger. Two shots and two down, that was some bragging rights there.

When they realized who had pulled the trigger they looked at Reg who had already put his gun away and closed his eyes. He was content to travel in the bed it was more peaceful and he was not part of their group. There were some murmurs that he didn't hear or care to as the guys got back into their seats and they were on their way again. Reg was in the first vehicle in a small caravan of four trucks with small trailers. The soldiers left the runners where they lay and continued on to the building. They unloaded the materials from the trucks, which was mostly concrete mix for cementing the blocks and two trucks headed back to the plant. They would pick up the runners and dispose of them before they could start producing spores.

At the plant it was harder to ignore the other guys and apparently his shooting of the runners got some mixed reactions. Some or the guys were pissed he took the shots; it should have been left to real military men. Others were impressed he had the pistol out and was aiming before the truck had even stopped, not to mention he made the shots with a pistol not a long gun. No one claimed they were great shots, but definitely impressive.

Reg was given a music shop to clean out when they finally entered the building. Like most of the shops it had no door to the outside, just a rear door to a long hallway that ran behind the stores, one end had doors to the main area the other a door that was being sealed off. Cope came by for a quick check on how things were going with the clear out. There were no surprises with this unit so he asked about the incident.

"_How did you pop them off so quickly?"_

"_Quickly? I was dreaming when I heard the guy on the bars, and pulled out my gun, I didn't know if you guys would stop or not. I felt the truck stopping so I waited and when it was still I took the shot. What was I supposed to do? Should I have waited for the other guys to get out and find their guns? I just took the shots, the guy was in trouble, he didn't need to wait until we figured out who had seniority."_

"_Hey, don't get me wrong, I am impressed, you took them quickly and with a pistol no less. I don't care about who dun it, no incident, no affair, just job done and move on. I am impressed, that's all. I know some of these guys are hot heads, they seem to think they are the only ones qualified to handle __guns, arrogance of youth and all."_

"_Sorry, it's just that some of the guys have been throwing attitude at me since we got here. One guy had the balls to tell me to hand my gun over. He said there is no way he's working with a hunter who thy let carry a weapon, I seriously did want to shoot him, well, I wanted to beat him bloody anyhow."_

"_That sounds like Steve. Maybe I should have him out guarding the trucks again. Let me know if he gives you any more trouble."_

"_I appreciate it, but I think I should deal with it/"_ Reg said _"The attitude I get from some of these guys is a bit hard to take."_

"_Don't take him on."_

"_I'm not afraid of him"_

"_No, you misunderstand. That is not the point; I will discipline both of you if I even think something might happen. I understand you don't want to seem weak, you are new and need to find your place and they need to figure out your place as well. I just can't have infighting. You cleaned up huh? Life on the inside getting to you already?" _he said changing the subject.

"_Yeah, uh, someone lent me a razor; it's amazing what you can do with a mirror. I can't believe I didn't cut my own head off though. I figure if I'm gonna stay with you guys a bit I'll have to step up"_

"_Right, I'm not sure I believe you did that alone but what do I know. Anyhow, I gotta make the rounds."_

"_See you later"_

_Cope was of with a wave over his shoulder._

Some of the guys helping with the music store had a decent time laughing at the covers and took a bunch of records outside to see who could toss one the farthest. Reg managed to find a mini__music player that still worked and spent his lunch break reading the instructions instead of tossing records. After that he started collecting the little chips that fit in the device. He felt very much like a kid, but really wanted in some way to make up for the favor Kaylee had done for him. He needed batteries for it but that wasn't hard to deal with having all the stores at hand, most were corroded beyond use but some were still good._  
_  
After his lunch Reg went outside to take a piss, he had walked around a corner of the building where they had some little plastic booth with a toilet in it. When he got out there was a soldier waiting for him. Reg went to walk by the guy but he grabbed his shoulder. Reg looked at him; he didn't know the guy's name but it was the guy that had given him a hard time earlier, Cope thought it may have been Steve.

"_You have something with Sam?"_ the guy asked.

"Who?"

The guy shoved Reg against the wall.

"_SAM, do you have a thing for Sam?"_

"_I don't know a Sam. If you have a problem with your girlfriend you-"_

The guy punched Reg in the stomach

"_I do, I do have a problem"_

Reg knew he had no friends here, and was not sure how it would go over if he got into a fight with someone who was on the inside but he never got the chance to find out. The guy looked like he was going to punch him again but they heard the door and a few guys came out.

_Shit, here we go he brought friends._ Reg figured it was balls out now and was about to go for broke but the guy let go of him and quickly walked off.

"_What was that?" _one of the guys asked

"_I don't know, he thinks I'm into his girlfriend or something."_

The three guys started laughing _"Sam right?"_

"_Yeah, who is Sam?"_

They laughed even harder _"He doesn't even know who she is!"_

"_I think I'm missing something here."_

"_Look"_ Said a guy named Pete

"_Steve has had a thing for Sam for years now. She didn't even know he existed until about six months ago. Steve was saying that he had talked to her and well, just all sorts of stuff. One of the guys asked her and she didn't know who we were talking about so he pointed her out in the mess. That was, well yeah, it was funny. Now it is kind of a love hate thing, you never know if he wants to marry her or, well, I don't know, probably something stupid."_

Another guy piped in _"That guys a piece. He's always on like he should be running the place. He was pissed you took out the two runners, he thinks he is the best shot here and we should have waited for him, and now he thinks you are into Sam. You may have to square up with him."_

"_I'm the new guy remember? I have already been warned about getting into it with this guy, not to mention I don't know how his friends would take it."_

Finally the third guy entered the conversation _"he is a piece, no one is going to stand up for that guy but he is tough in a fight and a good shot. You nailed those two runners with a pistol, you are gonna be in his cross hairs now, he will have to prove he is better than you, maybe at both. He'll rub you every chance he gets. He got in some trouble though a while back, Cope has no love for him. Well, neither does Sam"_

That got the other two laughing so hard one guy nearly pissed himself and ran to the booth. With that Reg went back inside, the others stayed where they were. Thankfully Steve would ride in another truck back to the base so that wouldn't be an issue, and the rest of the day went quickly enough, though he did slice his finger open on a rack which kind of pissed him off because it bled on his new pants. Cutting yourself also meant that you had to disinfect so now he had to take time for that. There was a first aid set up in the central area beside the massive pile of junk, so he headed off to take care of his finger. At least they would have proper alcohol and he would not have to dump bad hooch on it, or piss on it.

Reg would have gone to search for some new pants; he kind of liked wearing fresh jeans with no stains. They were not as quiet as his old worn ones but they made him feel like he at least looked like he belonged with this group. _Ouch, that hurts worse than bad hooch does _the alcohol dripped off his finger with a red tint. He took a small piece of cloth and wrapped it around his finger and used some tape to keep it in place. It was not a bad cut, but it needed to be covered at least 24 hours. He walked back to the quick stop that he had been working at and threw the rack that cut him. It landed shy of the junk pile but slid to the bottom, _good enough._

Some of the other soldiers were starting to pack up their gear. _Worse than old ladies, how much crap do you have to bring?_

Reg walked outside to the dusty drab green pickup. All he had was his pistol, knife, and a bottle of water, and nothing to do but sit and dream for the ride home. Some soldier named Marty was standing at the back of the pickup with some gear, tool boxes and sledge hammers and a couple of brooms. Reg helped him load it all up and climbed in for the ride back to the plant._ Maybe this time frank won't give me a hard time. _He watched the brilliant orange sun heading towards the horizon and realized he was actually more comfortable in the group today than yesterday despite the incident with Steve.

_Sam! _Reg was pretty much asleep when the memory came to him. _That was one of Kaylee's friends. Steve must have seen me talking to her in the lunch room. He was jealous of that? _He decided to forget about the incident and just go back to sleep for now. He didn't trust this guy though and decided to talk to Kaylee about it if he got the chance. It seemed only minutes before the pickup rolled into the driveway of the plant. He could see people on the roof, but that was normal. They always had people up there to watch, infected were not the worst, they didn't make plans and coordinated attacks.

Reg did not want to deal with Steve so he quickly grabbed his gear and as much of the other stuff as he could carry and walked in to the close out. Frank saw him coming and told him just to drop the gear on the floor. Reg had taken one long gun from the pickup as well and slung it over his shoulder, that he handed to Frank and they exchanged pleasantries as Reg turned to walk off to the showers.

"_Bit of a hurry?"_

"_Yeah, sorry Frank. I ahhhh, well it's been a day." _He looked over towards the door. _"I just"_

The doors opened up and a group of guys walked in. Reg didn't wait to see if Steve was one of them, he just turned and walked. Frank let him go but decided to talk to Cope about it. If there was animosity it needed to be taken care of quick. Two guys let to fester could end up two groups if others started picking sides, not to mention someone could end up hurt. _Too many issues come from that crap, and in these close quarters it's gonna be bad news._

The guys filed over to the close out and Frank took the weapons in turn. Frank was always by the book with the weapons. None of the guys looked out of sorts, Steve maybe but it was hard to tell. He was pretty much a loner after some bad decisions, so for him to walk in by himself was nothing unusual.

"_Cope, hold back a minute?"_

"_Yeah Frank. Just a sec."_

"_Marty" _Cope called.

"_Can you see if you can get a few guys to check some of those cars over tomorrow? See if any of the run?"_

"_Yeah sure." _Marty replied. _"Think I should take Dean?"_

"_You know what, don't ask him, let him hear about it and say you forgot or something."_

Frank piped up_ "Don't you two go causing trouble; we have no need for that."_

"_What's up Frank?"_

"_Something's up with Reg. He definitely has an issue with someone on your crew. He wouldn't say who, but it was something."_

"_Yeah, I think it's Steve, I'm keeping an eye on them. We don't need something stupid happening."_

Cope walked off unzipping his bullet proof vest. He was sweat top to bottom and covered in dust, all he could think about was getting to the showers. Not to mention Anne, she had been haunting his thoughts all day.


End file.
